Forever Frozen: Star of Hope
by Cryoshade
Summary: Every fairy tale has a beginning and an end... a "Once Upon a Time" and a "Happily Ever After." The royal family of Arendelle searches for their true happy ending in face of a prophecy that threatens to destroy everything they have... including each other. Sequel to Forever Frozen.
1. Restless Dreamer

**Author's Note: Star of Hope is a sequel to my previous fanfiction, Forever Frozen, and will pick up right where that story left off. This story is rated 'Teen' due to Once Upon a Time's age rating and will contain some cursing and violence, but nothing beyond what the show displays. Needless to say, this story will contain spoilers for OUaT up through the fourth season, and for Frozen and Frozen Fever... just in case if you haven't seen them already. ;)**

* * *

 _Time is an interesting concept. It flows, often passing us by without notice when things are enjoyable, simple and easy. It stops, too; sometimes it feels like a day will last forever, or a week never ends, or even a year can trap us in its embrace while we watch others progress through their lives. Time moves quick when we don't want it to and mocks us when we try to catch it, running out just when we need it most._

 _The worst of all is when time is slow._

 _It drags, giving us the opportunity to overthink unwanted anxious thoughts. It feels like a heavy weight upon the sturdiest of shoulders. When time is slow, it makes hard days challenging, and the bleakest days so much darker._

 _But… in the same way, it also makes the happiest moments shine._

She knew all about the oddities of time. It was fast in the beginning of her life, then it slowed, and then ultimately it stopped. Only recently did time start to flow again, and it brought her to where she was now: her future. Her happy ending was starting right here on this balcony, back home in her birthplace and standing hand in hand against the sunrise with her sister. No more running. No more fighting. They could finally enjoy the time they had together and live their lives with the rest of their family and the kingdom in their care.

Of course she would miss the people she met on the way to get this far. A princess and her charming husband had offered kindness and wise words when she needed them, and a savior had inspired her to be brave when she felt she couldn't. She found kinship in the savior's son, who had a heart as true and gold as hers, and befriended a werewolf and her grandmother. She would never forget them or the time that they all spent together, but she knew… no, she _believed_ that they would all see each other again someday.

Right now, this moment, though… she wouldn't mind it lasting a little longer. A peaceful summer morning with her best friend had sounded like a fantasy not too long ago. "I wish it could stay like this forever," she said, smiling and squeezing the hand in her grip. She looked to her right, finding a smirk on her sister's face and the sparkle of the sun off the ocean in her blue eyes. She said nothing, but she wished the same.

Nothing could dim this perfect day and the bright future that was in store for them, but at a slight shift of the breeze, the eldest of the siblings started in worry while the younger remained oblivious to the change. It wasn't long until she, too, was overwhelmed by a feeling that something was about to go terribly wrong.

She looked to the sky, dismayed as black clouds materialized and eclipsed the sun. The ocean roiled with the wind, crashing against the rocky shoreline and adding clamor to the symphony of growing chaos. What had been a picturesque morning just moments ago was now a violent mockery of everything she had hoped would never change.

Confused, scared, she turned to her sister. "What's happening?" She brought her hands to her lips, surprised that she could see her breath fog in the rapidly declining temperature.

Her sister said nothing at first and refused to look at her, so focused on the approaching darkness it was as though nothing else mattered. She shook her head and took a step back towards the doors of the balcony. "The storm is coming…" she whispered, holding trembling hands over her heart in a silent plea to keep the black clouds away. "You _must_ leave."

"Leave? No, no, I'm not going anywhere, not without—"

The younger sibling's declaration was cut short as the world around them quaked in fear, rattling the old castle that was their home. She felt the balcony shudder beneath her and pulled her sister towards the open doorway, trying to get her to safety, but the effort was for naught. The stone walls cracked and crumbled and the supports to the balcony collapsed. They fell hand in hand, plummeting towards the garden below amongst splintered wood and rock. Her sister tried to do something to save them, but time worked against her; not even magic could stop the inevitable.

Her last few moments of life slowed to a crawl as she looked ahead and fearlessly faced her imminent doom. So slowly they had fallen that she could have counted the snowflakes they passed before they hit the ground.

At the moment of impact, she felt no pain. She lost her sister's hand as the world went black, though the experience tore a scream from her throat when she came back into consciousness.

Anna blinked in the darkness, sitting up and grasping her nightshirt as she tried to catch her breath and discern where she was. Was she dead? She should have been, but from the bed beneath her and the cold sweat she felt down her neck, she was certainly alive.

She heaved a sigh and pressed her forehead against her knees when she realized what had happened. "It was just a nightmare…" she told herself, hoping that saying it out loud would have made it feel less real. Her dreams were frequent, but nightmares came far too often for her to sleep properly.

Caused by a curse or an overactive imagination, she wasn't sure what made her dreams feel so real, but she had about enough of it. She laid back down with a frustrated huff, closing her eyes tight and bringing her blanket up to her chin, determined to get more sleep.

Something felt strange to her, though. It was subtle, but she could sense that her surroundings were just… off.

Her bed didn't feel quite as springy as it should have, and she should have two blankets along with her sheets, not just one. The pillow provided just enough support for her head but lacked the size and softness she expected. It wasn't as though her bed was uncomfortable; she felt used to it, actually. The problem was that it didn't feel _right._

She'd toss and turn all night if she didn't look around to deny her suspicions. With a deep breath and a sudden sense of dread, Anna opened her eyes and cringed as soon as she took in her surroundings.

It wasn't nighttime like she thought it was; her room was dark because there was no window. Even with the lack of light, she could tell that there were no colors or designs on the walls, just plain white paint. The scarce furniture was essential but in no way was it elaborate, and the only decoration she could find in the darkness was a painting of a tulip above her bed.

This was most definitely _not_ her bedroom in Arendelle.

"…I'm in Storybrooke."

It took a full second for the discovery to sink in before Anna threw her covers off and sprang out of bed. She knocked into her nightstand as soon as she stood up, scattering some things on the surface and knocking them to the floor when she swatted at her lamp for the switch.

Either everything was wrong or this was another nightmare. She clearly remembered her last day in the cursed town, fighting with her family to get her heart back from Peter Pan, witnessing his ultimate demise at the hands of his son and then facing a storm of magic that would take her back home. After that…

She stilled as she reached her dresser. What happened after the magic swallowed her? Did she make it back home, or was she somehow abandoned while they were crossing worlds? No matter how hard she tried, Anna could not remember anything but darkness from the moment the purple haze swallowed her until the dream that just woke her up.

Digging through her dresser for a set of fresh clothes, she located her phone in the process and flipped open the lid to note the time. 8:15, not a minute later. "And three missed calls from Kristoff," she smiled in relief, glad that she was wrong about being left behind. She'd call him back after a quick shower to come to grips that she and Arendelle were resuming their long-distance relationship. With an outfit in her arms, she rushed out of her room and paused as soon as she stepped into the hall.

White and painted with sharp blue rosemaling, it was no surprise to find that the door to Elsa's room was closed. Judging by the shadow beneath it, Anna could only determine that her big sister was still asleep. The temptation to go in and wake her up was mounting, but depending on Elsa's reaction to finding herself in Storybrooke again, there was a 50% chance of a blizzard in their apartment that morning. Anna thought it better to keep the peace and leave her be for now. Better for Elsa to process everything in her own time than to be forced awake and have it dropped on her like a ton of bricks.

Regardless of when she woke up, Elsa would have the situation figured out by the end of the day. At least, Anna hoped she would. She tried coming up with her own conclusions while she was in the shower, ranging from the obvious idea that Peter Pan's curse still got them, to the ridiculous notion that they were all abducted by aliens and they were stuck in a simulation of Storybrooke. By the time Anna got dressed and returned to her room, she was wondering if everything in Arendelle and Storybrooke up to this point had just been a dream of hers. If so, she'd have to pat herself on the back; that was some crazy elaborate and messed up fantasy to come up with in her sleep.

She picked up her phone to find more missed calls from Kristoff and she wandered back into the hall after dialing his number. She didn't even have a foot in the living room when he picked up on the second ring.

"I called you six times!" Kristoff exclaimed before Anna could say a word. "I was ready to come over there and bust down the door! I thought something happened to you!"

"I was _sleeping_ , Kristoff."

"Yeah, well…! Okay, that makes sense…"

Anna giggled, rolling her eyes at him. He was worried about her, and it was touching, but he should know by now that she was capable of taking care of herself in odd situations like this, even if she didn't know what was going on. "Hey… I didn't imagine that whole fight we had with Peter Pan, did I?" she asked, pausing when she got into the kitchen. "We were supposed to go back to Arendelle, right?"

She sat on the countertop and opened a cabinet, fishing out a box of toaster pastries as Kristoff gave a frustrated sigh through the phone. "You can't remember what happened after that either?"

"Nuh-uh. Nope." Anna jumped off the counter with her breakfast and tore open the silver packet with her teeth, taking a bite from a pastry as she maneuvered back into the living room. "I mean… I had a dream that felt kinda real, but… well, I woke up, so I guess it wasn't." She sat on the couch and took another bite of pastry, smiling to herself and giggling like a little kid who had just been given their favorite treat. "Okay, I don't know why, but breakfast tastes so _good_ today."

"…Are you eating Pop-Tarts again?"

"Yeah! I didn't even put it in the toaster, and it's not the good kind with the frosting or one of those special flavors. It's just the plain strawberry one and…" She paused, listening to the silence on the other line. "Okay, you. I can hear you judging me through the phone. Just because it's not eggs and bacon—"

"Which is a perfectly acceptable meal…"

"Perfectly acceptable until you add carrots to it!"

"That makes it healthy!" he laughed, making Anna's heart swell and her smile grow wide. It felt good to hear him laugh, and for whatever reason she felt like she hadn't heard him chuckle like that in a long time. "Hey, Anna? Do you mind if I came over to pick you guys up? Sven and the boys want to see you, and we need to figure out what happened."

Anna nodded, though she looked to the hallway and noted the lack of light coming from her sister's door. "Elsa's still sleeping, but I'll come over. Are you guys okay?" she asked, leaning back into the couch and looking around the living room, finding her diary laying open on the coffee table. Holding her phone between her ear and shoulder, she replaced the golden lock, listening to Kristoff struggle to explain the need for a visit.

"Things around here are… different. I can't really explain how… or _why_ … but something definitely happened to us. I went out into town earlier and everything feels strange."

To be honest, the apartment felt like another normal morning to Anna despite the nightmare. Everything from her diary to Elsa's art supplies were right where they left them on the day Peter Pan attacked. "We're fine over here," she shrugged, scanning the room and slowing as she took the time to appreciate the paintings on the walls. "Nothing's out of place or weird, except for being in Storybrooke instead of Arendelle, of course. And me waking up before Elsa is unusual, too, but she gets like that when she's— oh my god."

She stood from her seat and dropped her phone in her haste, too stunned to pick it back up. There was a blank part of the wall where she and Elsa had planned to put an entertainment system when they could afford the components, but in its place was a painting that had haunted them since the moment Elsa had put it to market. It was a peculiar landscape of a beautiful fjord with tall mountains and sparkling waters, and nestled in the middle of it all was a small kingdom built into the hills and seaside.

"Anna? What happened?!"

Slowly, she bent over to pick her phone up, staring at the signature in the bottom right corner of the painting: Alison Vinter, Elsa's cursed identity.

"H-Hey, I'm taking back what I said before. I found something weird."

* * *

The drive through town was quick as usual, mostly in part to no one being out on the road as the whole town seemed to be flocking to Main Street and Town Hall in search of answers. The mass confusion made Anna feel a little better about waking up and panicking that morning, though when she and Kristoff pulled up to his cabin and got out of the jeep, she couldn't help but feel a little lost.

"WHY IS IT WINTER?!"

Kristoff smiled sheepishly and ran ahead to open the door as Anna grumbled up the snow-dusted steps. "Do you get what I'm saying now? This isn't right."

"I'll say! It was just summer and now it's like Elsa sneezed and _poof_! Winter." Anna shivered, wrapping her arms around herself as she kicked the snow off her shoes before dashing inside the cabin. Kristoff closed the door behind them and took her coat, draping it along with his own over the back of a chair in the living room. He smiled at the sight of a fire burning in the fireplace, but then he frowned in concern when he saw that no one else was around.

With an authoritative step, he walked past Anna and stood at the front of the hallway that led to the bedrooms. "Hey, guys? Who's out here watching the fire?"

There was a brief moment of silence before Anna heard the sound of someone's feet thumping against the wooden floor down the hall. "I got it!" said an excited voice. Seconds later a young boy with brown hair and a small overbite rushed out of the hall, intent to tend the fire until he saw who was standing at the front door. His dark eyes went wide and a smile lit up his face as he held his arms out wide. "Anna!"

She braced for impact and caught the boy when he tackled her middle, caught in an odd wave of emotion as she looked down at him. "It's good to see you, Olaf," she smiled warmly, meaning every word and squeezing him tightly, almost afraid to let go. "I feel like I haven't seen you in forever."

He pulled away, looking up at her in confusion. "But we just saw each other yesterday!"

It didn't feel like it at all. If yesterday was supposed to have been the day they were to leave Storybrooke, then it felt like forever ago. She was about to argue his point when another boy calmly walked out from the hall. He was taller than Olaf despite being younger, but his smile went wide in the same way when he spotted his family. "Aunty Anna."

"It's good to see you too, Marshmallow," Anna said, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and cringing in pain, having forgotten that Marshmallow hugs were unusually tight despite his small size. Actually, now that she took the time to look at the boys, they didn't seem as small as they used to. "Did you guys get taller?"

Kristoff crossed his arms, nodding even though the boys shrugged their shoulders. "Olaf was up to here before we were supposed to go back," he said, holding his hand to his waist. "And they're not the only ones who changed." He waved for Anna to come with him into the kitchen, but when the boys started following, he pointed them back towards the fireplace. "Nuh-uh, I told you guys to keep an eye on the fire. Remember what happened last time you didn't watch it?"

Marshmallow gave him an innocent look and Olaf stood up straight and attentive, saluting him like a soldier. "You can count on us, sir!"

With an exasperated sigh, Kristoff went into the kitchen with Anna in tow. He took a carrot from a bowl on the counter and handed it to her before he went to the door wall and slid it open. Holding onto the frame, he leaned outside and whistled sharply. "Hey, Sven! Come on boy, Anna's here to visit!"

Excited, Anna skipped up to the doorway and stood next to Kristoff, huddling next to him for warmth as the cold drafted into the cabin. Her eyes focused on the surrounding forest at the edge of the spacious backyard, and it wasn't long before she spotted movement and heard what she recognized as a cheerful cry of joy.

With a burst of energy, the shaggy reindeer tromped out of the forest. He raced towards the cabin and slid to a halt on the snow covered grass, sitting down and promptly biting the carrot Anna held out for him. He smiled at her and nosed the other half, wanting her to take it for herself.

"Uh, no, I'm okay Sven. You can have the rest of it," she smiled sweetly as the reindeer gave an approving grunt and took the offer. He hummed as Anna scratched the top of his head, not noticing the odd look she was giving him. "Kristoff…" she started, cocking her head to the side, "Sven looks different too."

Kristoff sat down in the doorway and took hold of one of Sven's horns. "It's his antlers. Reindeer shed theirs once a year, and they grow back fast… but not _that_ fast. It's all different, see?"

Now that Anna looked closer, she could see the difference in structure. Tall and strong just like the animal who bore them, Sven's antlers still suited him even though they took on a different shape. Anna would daresay they were more elaborate now. Sven looked up at her, almost as though he was asking for her approval. "Don't worry, Sven. You still look good."

He smiled with his tongue sticking out, panting like a dog who was praised for staying off the furniture. He got to his hooves and backed away from the cabin, gleefully prancing through the snow, chasing lazy snowflakes while Anna and Kristoff retreated back inside. They went back to the living room, finding Olaf nudging the burning logs with a poker while Marshmallow sat by and watched, gently swaying back and forth in a rocking chair.

"Where's Mama?" he asked, blue eyes bright as Anna took a seat on the couch.

Anna laughed as she checked her phone for any messages from her sister, but wasn't surprised when she had none. "Elsa's having a lazy Sunday. She's still sleeping." Marshmallow giggled at the thought of Elsa, the ever punctual and responsible one, snoozing through what could be a crisis.

Calling it a crisis might be going to the extreme though. No one was hurt, and as far as they could tell, no one was in danger, but the subtle changes and sudden shift from summer to winter was enough proof that something had happened. Anna hugged a knee to her chest, thinking about everything that had changed. "…We fought Peter Pan and we were going to leave," she said quietly, bringing the group out of their family visit to their strange predicament. "We saw his curse coming to take us and we watched Regina counter it by destroying hers, so… what are we doing here?"

She looked to Kristoff, who looked to Marshmallow, who nudged Olaf with his foot to turn around and pay attention. Nobody knew. No one had an idea.

So they started talking out the problem like a typical family would. Anna told them all about the fjord painting appearing in her apartment when it still should have been in the pawnshop. She told them of her hyper-realistic dream, and Olaf in turn told her how he really felt like they just defeated Peter Pan the day before even though he didn't remember returning to the cabin or falling asleep.

After an hour of discussion and a round of hot chocolate by the dying fire, they came to one solid point: they were missing time. The winter wasn't brought on by magic; it was real, and from checking the digital calendars on their phones, they found that a year and a half had gone by without them.

That discovery didn't thrill Anna, not in the least for she knew exactly what it meant.

"We're cursed _again!_ " she cried in exasperation, burying her face in her knees. Kristoff rubbed the back of his neck, unable to deny the solid conclusion they came to.

"It's not that bad—"

"Not that bad?! Kristoff, this is the _third time_ I've lost my memories!" she claimed, rubbing her forehead in an attempt to suppress an oncoming headache. "How am I supposed to function if I can never remember anything?!"

"You remember us!" Olaf reminded, beaming when Anna smiled softly at him. He turned away from the fireplace, having watched the last ember burn out into the ash, and he held his chin in deep thought. "But if we're cursed, who would do that to us?"

Kristoff scoffed and looked away. "I can think of a few people," he muttered under his breath, no doubt thinking of Regina and any other foe that may not have perished like they thought they had. "Do you think Elsa might have an idea of what happened?"

Anna shrugged, unsure and ready to argue the idea of asking when Olaf jumped up from his seat on the floor. "Ooh, I know! Let's go and ask her!"

"W-Wait, hold on, she could still be…" Anna sighed, her protest falling on deaf ears as Olaf went to the closet to get his shoes and jacket with Kristoff at his heels. Even Marshmallow went along with the idea, grabbing her hands and smiling wide as he tugged at her to get off the couch.

"Come on! Let's go see Mama!"

* * *

"Okay, if she's not still sleeping, she's probably confused, so… just wait here a minute, okay? You know how she gets."

Anna climbed out of the jeep and closed the door behind her, but she swore as she walked to the front door of her building she could hear her family counting the seconds. Typical boys.

She stomped the snow off her shoes as she ran up the stairway to the third floor, encouraged by everyone's desire to solve this mystery and determine what happened in the missing year. Walking down the hall to a door labeled "15", she unlocked it with a key from her pocket and stepped inside her apartment. Just from a quick glance at the kitchen, she saw no signs of her sister being up. Elsa's canvas shoes were still on the mat and her keys remained on the hook. If she were up, there would be the smell of one of her favorite herbal teas in the air, but there was nothing but the scent of an air freshener they had hiding on top of a cabinet.

With a smirk, Anna kicked off her shoes and went into the hall, stopping to stare straight at her sister's door. Many times before she would hesitate to knock, but not now, not after everything they had gone through together. She knocked a favorite rhythm into the wood and waited for some kind of response.

She got nothing.

 _Elsa, you're the Snow Queen, not Sleeping Beauty. Get with the program._

Anna knocked again, harder this time. "Hey, are you up yet?" she called through the door. "Man, I swear you sleep like a troll sometimes…"

She expected some sort of sleepy-yet-sassy comeback for that, or maybe even a yawn of disapproval, but she was still met with nothing, and now Anna was concerned. She knocked again, no playful rhythm this time, and she pressed an ear to the door. "Hey, is everything okay in there?" she asked, listening for something, any kind of indication that Elsa was safe or otherwise. She rested her hand on the door handle, ready to bust it down if she kept getting the silent treatment, but her respect for her older sister kept her in the hall. "…Please talk to me. If something's wrong, or if your magic's acting up, it's okay. We'll figure it out like always, you know? I mean, it's already snowing outside, so it can't get much—"

The door handle gave way under her weight and she gasped, not expecting it to be unlocked. If Elsa had her door closed, it was always locked, no exceptions. Biting her lip, Anna tried to push past her nervous beating heart to open the door just a crack. "I-I'm coming in," she called, waiting for a moment for a response that never came.

With a deep breath, she swung the door open and stood in the threshold. Elsa's room was similar to her own; white walls, wooden floors, a dresser and closet. The only major difference was that Elsa had a window to the fire escape in her room, along with a few holes in the wall due to magical mishaps.

But as Anna stood there in the doorway, peering through the darkness, one thing became clear to her as her eyes fell upon the bed.

Elsa was not there.

She hoped the darkness was playing tricks on her. She prayed that she was missing a clue or that Elsa was playing some sort of cruel, ill-humored game of hide-and-seek, but as her fears brought her inside the room, she found that her eyes did not deceive her. Elsa's bed was occupied only by her blanket and a children's book on the pillow. With shaky hands, Anna took the book for herself, staring at the two little girls standing hand in hand on the cover. One had a head of copper, the other was blonde, and the title labeled them falsely because Anna knew that she was truly one half of that sisterhood and the other was missing.

With the book tucked under her arm, she turned on the lights and navigated her cell's phonebook as she paced around the room. Thankfully "Ali" was the first person on the list and she sent the call through as she opened the closet, looking for some kind of sign or clue as to where Elsa went.

"Come on… pick up… _please_ pick up."

She stared hopelessly at her sister's wardrobe, unsure of what she was even looking for when an unmistakable buzzing sound halted her search altogether. Slowly, Anna turned around and went back to the bed, knowing what she was going to find but unwilling to face it and the possible reality that came with it. Swallowing her fear, she listened to the dial tone from her phone's speaker as she approached Elsa's bedside table.

A blue cellphone buzzed across the surface, bumping into the lamp and sending it rattling as the small display lit up with Anna's name. She felt helpless when it suddenly stopped, and when her call went to voicemail, her heart sank completely, sending her to her knees.

"Hi, this is Elsa Vinter. Sorry I can't take your call right now, but please leave your name and number and I'll get back to you as soon as I can. Thank you!"


	2. Hjem

_Tranquil. It was the only way one could truly describe Arendelle's forest that late-summer morning. Branches of sturdy pines swayed ever so gently from a breeze off the ocean, and flowers glowed in sunbeams that illuminated the path and kept it warm. Songbirds called overhead, creating a beautiful melody unmatched by any single voice. This nature, often underappreciated, did not go unnoticed by a certain young woman._

 _She just didn't have time to stop and immerse herself in it that morning. That's all._

 _The forest sped past her in a blur of green, and she grinned. She loved this feeling of freedom, the wind through her hair and a daring pace that was both exhilarating and reckless, especially for her. She bent over, pressing herself closer to the beast under her command and she looked ahead with a competitive glint in her eye._

" _Almost there, Magnus. Just a little more."_

 _There was no verbal response, but she knew she was understood. They shared the same determination, and when they spotted a clearing in the distance, they knew that there was nothing left to hold back. The animal charged, bursting out of the forest with its rider and triumphantly jumping over a small stream before it finally slowed. It picked its head up, whinnying in victory as its rider, a young woman clad in white trousers and a dark blue riding jacket, smiled and patted his neck._

 _Crystal blue eyes searched the tree line, silently counting the seconds until a white horse bounded out of the forest. Its rider, wearing a green jacket and tan trousers, stared at her in awe as they made the jump over the stream and slowed to a stop. "Okay Elsa, who put the extra tablespoon of sugar in your tea this morning?"_

 _Elsa giggled, her laughter soft as she hid it behind a raised hand. "No one did. And it wasn't just me; Magnus was doing all the hard work," she smiled, rubbing the shoulders of the gray fjord horse she sat upon._

" _Yeah, but sheesh! You've only been riding for two months and you're already beating me and Kjekk!"_

" _I have a good teacher," Elsa shrugged, "so you really only have yourself to blame for that, Anna."_

 _The younger sibling playfully pouted, and as she settled back into her saddle, she couldn't help but reflect on her sister's progress. Two months ago Elsa was too afraid to even get close to Kjekk, but then she accidentally bumped into a young steed with a rare gray coat in the stables. The horse didn't shy from her cold touch nor was he skittish at her magic like some of the others were. It was at that moment that Elsa felt the connection, named the horse Magnus and had a desire to learn to ride._

 _It was a good distraction, too. Ever since returning from Storybrooke, Elsa was fully occupied with her duty as queen of Arendelle. Her days were long, her rests were short, and the stress had been high. It was nice for a change to see her outside of the castle and enjoying herself._

" _So where to next?" Elsa asked, eyes wide in anticipation. "We could ride further inland to the fjord, or maybe even visit the Willow Grove."_

" _Elsa, the Willow Grove is like, halfway to the North Mountain!" Anna said, a little overwhelmed by her sister's enthusiasm. "It'll take hours to get up there."_

" _I have time."_

" _And what if Magnus slips and you guys fall? You aren't even wearing a helmet."_

 _Elsa blinked. "Neither are you."_

" _Th-That's beside the point! I'm more experienced!"_

" _Says the princess who just got beat by a novice!"_

 _Kjekk snorted, surprising Anna and she leaned down to stroke his patterned mane to calm him. "Hey, don't let her get to you," she said, looking up and smiling at the way Elsa and Magnus were proudly basking in their victory. "She's just teasing."_

" _Oh, so it's teasing when I do it, but when_ you _do it, it's talking smack." Elsa quickly spotted the difference and she raised a brow with the beginnings of a smirk drawing up the side of her lips. "I think Magnus and I are up for another race."_

 _Closing her eyes, Anna shook her head in disbelief. "Okay, who are you and what have you done with my sister?" she asked, on the verge of giggles as Elsa and Magnus pranced around her and Kjekk to playfully antagonize them. "Seriously, where is all this energy coming from all of a sudden?"_

 _Elsa relaxed her shoulders, lowering the reigns to the horn of her saddle as she looked up to the bright blue sky. She felt the breeze through her hair, heard the birds and insects in the forest, felt Magnus moving beneath her to get a drink from the stream. The day was perfect and she reveled in the feeling._

" _Everything is going so well right now," she smiled, looking over her shoulder as Anna and Kjekk joined the pair at the stream. "We've been home for two months and no one's tried to kill me, steal the throne or curse the kingdom. It's nice for a change." She paused, her eyes narrowing for a moment as she reflected on the past several weeks. "I haven't had any magical mishaps and we've reestablished our alliances with our former trade partners. All that's left to do now is finish preparations for winter and wait for the Southern Isles to sign the peace treaty."_

 _It was admirable all the work that had been done since Elsa's return to Arendelle, and even Anna wondered how she managed to do it all even though she had help from both her and the council. "And then you get a break, right?"_

"… _Well, there's this other matter about the town's water channels-"_

" _Come on, really?" Anna whined. "I mean, it's great spending the day together, but ever since that whole thing started with Peter Panhandle and those guys he sent to destroy Storybrooke, you never really stopped working. The last time I saw you take a day off was when you threw that make-up birthday party for me. And you didn't have to do that, by the way."_

 _Elsa was in clear disagreement about that. "Yes I did. And it's not like I won't have days off in between everything else. It's a little busy right now because we just got home, that's all."_

" _Fine. But I'm exercising my right as the princess, heir and your sister to drag you out of your study once a day to, you know, see the sun. I hear it's good for you."_

 _Rolling her eyes, Elsa turned away from Anna's know-it-all glare, not intending to listen when there was so much work she still had to do. She looked to the forest around them, spotting something in the thicket to the south, and as she turned to her sister to suggest a fun idea, she stopped. Anna was looking up to the sky, watching the clouds as they glanced the sun. Her eyes were distant._

" _I wonder how everyone else is doing," she said out loud. "Emma and Henry… Snow White, Prince Charming, the dwarfs, Belle…"_

 _Elsa pressed her lips together, watching her sister as Magnus shifted on his hooves, sensing her brief unease. "I'm sure they're fine," she smiled, but it was quick to fade. "Actually, I invited Granny Lucas, Ruby, Snow and Charming to your birthday party, but I never got a response."_

"… _They were probably busy," Anna concluded, her optimism clear in her wide grin. "And it's a long way to travel for them too. Now that I'm thinking about it, maybe it's a good thing they didn't come."_

" _Why do you say that?"_

"' _Cause I still owe Granny for all the things I broke in the diner, so…"_

" _I still can't believe you broke a chair."_

" _It was an_ accident _, Elsa."_

 _Elsa sighed, tapping her finger against her chin in thought. "Well, I suppose I could spare you having to reimburse her by doing it myself."_

" _Really?!" Anna's eyes were wide, happy that she had such a wonderful big sister who would take care of the debt for her. But then she saw the way Elsa's serious look turned mischievous and Anna sat back, apprehensive. "What's the catch?"_

"… _You'll have to beat me and Magnus to Oaken's first!"_

 _With a snap of the reigns, Elsa and Magnus took off into the forest, sparking Anna's competitive fire and forcing her and Kjekk to give chase. "Oh, you two are going down!"_

" _Last one there gets the lutefisk!"_

* * *

"…fifty-nine, sixty! Anna and Elsa, we're coming in!"

Olaf burst into the apartment with excited, nervous energy, expecting to see his two best friends standing in the kitchen to greet him. But from where he stood in the doorway, neither sister was to be found. "Anna?" he asked as he wandered further in, looking around the wall that separated the kitchen from the living room. Marshmallow followed with a concerned look on his young face, and Kristoff came in soon after, rolling his eyes at them as he closed the door.

"You guys are lucky that they have wood floors, otherwise Elsa would scold you for wearing wet shoes in her house," he grumbled, not at all moved by the boys' look of innocence. He kicked off his boots, put them on a mat next to Anna's shoes and wandered in after them. "We should just stay here and…"

He paused once he got to the living room, caught off guard by the sight of the painting of Arendelle that Anna had warned him about. Every time he saw it hanging in the pawnshop he felt terrible that the sisters could never afford to pay the costly price to own it again, but now that it was here… it was like seeing a ghost.

It distracted him enough to where he barely noticed Olaf heading towards the hallway. "I'm gonna go check on them."

"Olaf, wait! Give them time!"

But the young boy didn't listen. He ran down the hall, ready to burst into the door on the right when he was stopped by a lone figure emerging from it. He slid to a halt, staring up and smiling when he saw Anna, though when he noticed her blank stare and tense frown, his excitement wavered. "Anna? What happened? Where's Elsa?"

She bit her lip and hugged a book to her chest, looking hurt and feeling so confused. "She's…" Reality cut off her words and she swallowed hard as she down at him. Silently, she reached down and took his hand, leading him out of the hall and borrowing his strength to face Kristoff and Marshmallow. They all looked to her expectantly, waiting for her to tell them that Elsa was getting dressed or something similar.

But as the words started to come to mind, she felt like her knees were about to give out again. "Elsa's gone."

The stunned silence that filled the room was deafening. Olaf turned around and looked towards the bedrooms, searching for the pulse of Elsa's frozen heart, but he found nothing. Marshmallow, who had been so happy on the way there, clenched his fists in anger. "Why is she gone?" he asked, not understanding. When Anna closed her eyes and looked away from him, his frustration got the better of him and he stepped up to her, staring up at her as though he was once again the snow golem he used to be. "Where is she? Why is she not here?!"

"I don't know!"

"Why don't you know?!"

"Hey! Hey, _enough!_ " Kristoff yelled, pulling Marshmallow back to give Anna some space. "Don't yell at her. She says she doesn't know, so she doesn't know, alright?" He held onto the boy's shoulders, trying to calm him down, and he looked up at Anna, wanting to help her figure out their new mystery. "She didn't leave, did she?"

Anna shook her head. "No. She doesn't leave the apartment without leaving a note first. And she wouldn't go anywhere without her cellphone or keys… or her _shoes_." She looked down to the book in her arms, staring at the blonde girl on the cover. "Kristoff… what if something happened to her in the year we can't remember?"

He didn't want to think of it and wanted to tell her to get that idea out of her head, but Olaf's worried look at him told him to keep that possibility in mind. The young brunette had been looking high and low for any sign of the sorceress who created him, and the frown on his face showed that he had been unsuccessful.

With a steady hand, Kristoff reached out and touched Anna's shoulder. "Keep your chin up," he smiled warmly. "We're going to figure everything out, I promise. If we got cursed to come back here, that means Elsa had to have made it back too, right?" he asked, smiling wider when he saw the hope starting to return to her eyes. "So she's got to be in town somewhere."

"But why can't I see her?" Olaf asked, more confused than doubtful at Kristoff's suggestion. Anna picked up on Kristoff's positive train of thought, able to see light now where moments ago she had been focusing on the dark.

She put the book down on the coffee table and looked up at the painting of the fjord, focusing on the snowy mountains that surrounded the kingdom. "Maybe Elsa's hiding?" she thought out loud. "She could be in trouble, or maybe she's struggling with her magic. We don't know."

"But we're gonna find out," Kristoff said, nodding to everyone in the room. "Let's go to the sheriff's station and see if David's there. I bet he can get a search party together and help us find her."

It was a sound plan to get them started, and Anna was more than ready to start getting some answers to all of her questions. As the others started filing out of the room, she paused an extra moment to take in the details of the painting. How it got there was a mystery in itself, but the longer she looked at it, the more she felt that the answer to her sister's disappearance lie in the realms of the Enchanted Forest.

 _Elsa… where are you? What happened that I can't remember?_

* * *

 _There was much of Arendelle that Anna had forgotten in the years she spent away from home. She forgot how lively of a place it was during the summer, how fresh the forest smelled and how cool the water could be even during the warmest part of the day. Most of all, she forgot how thrilling horseback riding was._

 _Many days of her youth were spent outside training with Kjekk once she was old enough to ride. She learned to care for him even though the stable keep would perform the duty most days, and she'd take him all around the courtyard for hours at a time. She longed to ride with him outside of the castle gates, but her parents forbid it._

 _But now she was free to go wherever she pleased, and Elsa was happy to join her if time allowed. It had surprised her when Elsa asked her for riding lessons, but at the time Anna was more than willing to help as it gave her sister a hobby that took her out of the castle for a change of scenery. Now it was frustrating, because at the rate at which Elsa learned and adapted, she was currently on her level and legitimately kicking her butt._

 _It was okay, though. Anna liked the challenge._

 _Elsa and Magnus weren't far ahead, and with a little extra push, she and Kjekk could easily catch up. She lost once today, but she wasn't willing to lose again. If she waited until just the right moment, right when they came to that clearing where the forest briefly gave way to a worn road, then-_

 _She blinked, sitting upright a little as Magnus suddenly strayed from the path and darted into the deep forest. Anna would have thought that he freaked if she didn't see Elsa guiding him with the reigns. "That's not the way to Oaken's!" she called, almost laughing because her sister's sudden detour pretty much won her the race. "Well if she wants to stop and smell the crocuses, we'll let her," she smirked, leading Kjekk to continue his pace._

 _They charged forward, the forest blurring by them as they cut a path through the trees. Despite Anna's strictly determined look, she felt so light and giddy like she had been as a child before the gates were closed. Just ahead, the forest was clearing and Anna was about to secure her victory._

 _Was._

 _Something darted into her path and Kjekk reared in fright, whinnying as Anna quickly let go of the reigns and leaned forward to keep from falling off. She patted his neck, whispering to calm him as the horse seemed ready to bolt and whisk her back to the castle. "Gosh, Sven, you scared us," she smiled, putting a hand over her heart. Then she realized what she said and gave the reindeer a second look. "Sven?!"_

"… _And Kristoff," came a meager voice. Anna looked to where Sven came from and the ice harvester walked out from the brush, his head hung low and his hand raised to wave. "Hi Anna."_

 _She was about to respond when Sven snorted at Kristoff, grunting to communicate. Kristoff closed his eyes and nodded, rubbing the back of his neck. "I know, I said I would, didn't I? You didn't have to-"_

 _Sven stopped and gave him a dull look._

"… _Okay, maybe you did. But I got this now, okay buddy?"_

" _Kristoff, what are you doing here?" Anna asked, still a little bewildered at the sight of the two of them. "I thought you guys were harvesting today?"_

" _Uh, we were," he shrugged, avoiding her curious stare, "but then Sve- uh, I broke my ice pick and I came down here to see if Oaken had any at his shop. Yeah."_

 _Anna blinked. Something about the way he was talking made her suspicious of his story, but he was probably flustered from having to stop work in the first place. He put pride into his position as Arendelle's official Ice Master and Deliverer. He shifted on his feet, looked up to her finally and smiled at her sunny disposition. "Are you out alone today?"_

" _No, I'm with Elsa. We were racing, but then she and Magnus took off somewhere." She waved her hand in the general direction in which she lost her sister, which also happened to be where Sven and Kristoff came in from. "She had to go sightseeing or something, I dunno."_

 _Kristoff crossed his arms, locked in thought for a moment before he gathered his courage to speak again. "You know, I don't have to go back to the harvest right away. Maybe we can sightsee for a little bit, too? There's this place I want to show you that's not far from here. I mean, we can walk, it's that close."_

 _All thoughts about winning the race vanished at the idea. Of course she thought of her sister as well, wondering where she had gone to, but she knew Elsa likely had some kind of strategy she was working to get to the trading post before her; she probably built an ice wall at the end of the path or something._

" _Kjekk, go with Sven to Oaken's and wait for us there," Anna calmly ordered. The horse made a dissatisfied grunt as Anna dismounted and she mistook it for an outcry at her leaving. "Oh, don't worry! We'll be right back!"_

 _The steed gave her another grumpy look before he turned away and left with the reindeer that nearly scared him out of the forest. Anna giggled and took Kristoff's arm when he offered it to her, swatting his hand away as he ruffled her windswept red hair._

" _Where's your helmet?"_

" _Don't need one!_ I _am a professional."_

" _Like that matters if you hurt yourself. You could've fallen when Kjekk reared."_

" _But I didn't!" Anna argued. She playfully bumped into him, making him stumble a little. "I'm pretty capable, you know."_

" _Of course I know. I don't think you'll ever let me_ forget _."_

 _Arm in arm, Anna followed Kristoff's lead through the forest, heading away from her original destination. At first she was worried, thinking about her sister, Sven and Kjekk, but Kristoff was right: the place he was taking her to wasn't far at all, not even more than five minutes from where they originally met. She gave him a curious look when she recognized the sound of rushing water and noticed the sudden increase of flowers and berry bushes._

 _She didn't get a chance to ask the question on her lips as the trees parted to a beautiful isolated landscape. Flowers bloomed in every color, some growing as high as her knees. The sun shone through the branches of surrounding trees, sending the place aglow and forming rainbows in the mist of the short waterfall. She watched the water crash down the rock steps before it cascaded down a narrow stream, the same one she realized that went past Oaken's Trading Post._

" _Kristoff! This is… wow!"_

 _He laughed, letting go of Anna's arm so she could run and twirl and dance among the flowers. "I can't believe you've never been here before! It's not far from the castle."_

 _Anna stopped, bending down to pick a sunflower. "Elsa and I weren't allowed to go outside the castle gates until her coronation," she mused, frowning for a moment as she stuck the flower to the side of her hair. "And even after… you know, everything that happened around that day, we didn't get much time to explore before the curse came." She paused for a moment in thought before she stood and faced Kristoff with a bright smile. "That's why I like days like this! I like exploring and finding new things with the people I love!"_

 _Crossing his arms, Kristoff smirked and looked up to the clear blue sky. "We've had quite an adventure so far, haven't we?"_

" _Yeah…" she sighed, thinking of when she first met Kristoff at the Trading Post, how they fought off wolves together, how he had helped her to get up the North Mountain to find her sister and then took her back to Arendelle when her heart was frozen. She thought of Storybrooke, of how they fell in love again even when they were cursed and remained strong through everything that was thrown at them when their memories returned._

" _So… are you up for another adventure?"_

 _Blinking, Anna turned around, ready to respond when she saw the wide look in his brown eyes and the way his lips were drawn into a thin line. He looked nervous. "Kristoff…?"_

" _I-I…" He stopped, closed his eyes, cleared his throat and started again. He reached out to her, taking her small hands in his large ones, and despite the difference they were just as strong. It gave him the reassurance he needed. "I love being with you," he said, finding comfort in her turquoise eyes, "and even the most boring days are exciting when I'm with you. You make everything so much fun and light and beautiful, and Anna… I want to keep having more adventures together."_

 _She was about to respond and tell him that of course they would, she'd love to, but what he did next surprised her. She stepped back, covering her gasp as Kristoff got down to one knee._

" _Anna, will you marry me?"_

 _The world stopped spinning for a millisecond to let Anna process what was happening. There was no hesitation; she nodded right away, her racing heart just barely allowing her to squeak out a "Yes!" before she found herself fighting off tears. Kristoff smiled in relief, happy to just kneel there and watch her reaction until he noticed a curious shape form on the rocks behind her._

 _It happened quickly so Anna didn't notice when he looked away, but Kristoff was thankful for the frosty reminder that formed in the shape of a ring. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a silver band with a circular setting. The setting was hollowed into a decorative cross shape, thin metal expertly crafted into a sophisticated promise from the ice harvester to the princess. He placed it upon her finger and stood as she admired it, and no later did he find her tiny frame pressed against him for a loving embrace._

 _She stepped up on tip-toes and kissed him. "It's beautiful, Kristoff," she said, hugging him tighter. "And I can't wait to see where our adventures take us."_

 _For a few moments, neither one of them moved. They took the time to just simply_ be _and briefly ponder the future._

" _Kristoff, you're shaking."_

" _So are you!" he laughed, pulling away and holding her arms. She wiped away her tears, smiling so bright that the sun didn't matter; she was radiant enough to light all of Arendelle._

 _She gasped suddenly, eyes wide and she pulled Kristoff towards the forest. "Oh, we have to tell Elsa! She's probably worried by now that I'm not at Oaken's and—"_

" _You don't have to tell me anything." Anna spun around and Kristoff looked up, watching as the queen of Arendelle calmly stepped out of the shadows of the forest with a wide smile across her painted lips. "I saw everything. Congratulations!"_

" _Eeee! Elsa, look! Look, look!" Anna ran to her sister, pulling Kristoff behind her, and held out her hand to show off the ring. Elsa marveled at it, glancing up just for a moment to give Kristoff an approving nod and the man silently thanked her for her help. She was about to say something when she saw her newly engaged sister giving her a curiously odd look. "Wait, you knew he was going to propose?"_

 _Elsa nodded, focusing on Kristoff and letting him explain considering all of it had been his idea. He scratched the back of his head, blushing as he thought back to Elsa's involvement. "I asked for her permission back in Storybrooke," he said, watching as Anna put a hand over her heart and looked to her sister with joy. "When we got back, I told her that I wanted to propose here and she helped me make a plan to surprise you."_

" _Well it worked!" Anna laughed, taking hold of Kristoff's hand and squeezing it tightly. She paused for a moment, glancing down and then looking up at her sister. "So… this is okay with you?"_

 _Blinking, Elsa tilted her head to the side. "What do you mean?"_

 _Anna felt her throat tighten, looking nervously up at Kristoff. He smiled and tightened his grip on her hand, giving her the extra boost of courage that she needed to ask the question for a second time. "You gave Kristoff your approval, so… does that mean you're blessing the marriage?"_

 _For a moment, the siblings were brought back to a time nearly thirty years ago when Anna first made the same request. This time, however, was_ much _different._

 _Without hesitation, Elsa stepped up to the couple and put a hand on their shoulders. "I think I've been fortunate to watch your relationship grow over the past few months and a curse," she smiled. "It'd be my honor as the queen of Arendelle, and as your sister, Anna, to watch you marry the man you love. You have my blessing."_

 _There was no need for words. Anna temporarily parted from her husband-to-be and wrapped her arms around Elsa's shoulders, hugging her tightly. It meant the world to her that her sister approved, even more so that she seemed just as excited for their family to become official._

 _Taking both Kristoff and Elsa by the hand, Anna started leading them away from the waterfall garden and towards Oaken's Trading Post. "C'mon! Let's go get Kjekk, Magnus and Sven and head back to the village! I can't wait to tell Olaf and the others!"_

 _It was all Kristoff could do to smile at his fiancée's enthusiasm and he took Elsa's childish giggling at his expense in stride. She put a hand on his back, offering him a reassuring smile. "Planning these things takes a while, so don't worry. You've got time to let it sink in at least."_

* * *

For all the times Anna would rush head first into a situation, one would think she had enough confidence for herself and the entire kingdom she hailed from. In reality though, she felt that she had very little, and it was only due to her family and the people she surrounded herself with that she had enough to get through bad situations. As she huddled next to Kristoff that afternoon in the sheriff's office, she kept telling herself how thankful she was that he and the boys were still there. Without Elsa, she felt like a part of her was missing, and the stalwart confidence that made her feel invincible was gone with her.

If David noticed her lack of usual energy, he didn't say anything about it. He sat on a corner of a desk and listened intently as she and Kristoff explained their odd morning up until they left the cabin. "Well, I think it's pretty safe to say that time passed without us," he smiled, turning back to look at his wife. Mary-Margaret slowly stood from her seat at the desk, smiling shyly as Anna and Kristoff stuttered at her pronounced belly.

"Oh _wow_ …" Anna gaped, taking in the sight of a very pregnant Snow White. "Wait, wait… because of the curse, you guys don't remember… _this_ ," she gestured to her stomach with open palms, "happening at all?"

Mary-Margaret took her seat again and rubbed her belly, quite pleased with the development despite the memory loss. "You never know, Anna. Maybe something good happened to you in the missing year and you just don't know it yet."

She sent the young woman into a full-face blush and Anna's hands immediately flew to her stomach. "Not like that!" She glanced up at Kristoff and quickly looked away when she saw him blushing too.

"I think what Mary-Margaret was trying to say is that… once we get our memories back we'll understand things a little better," David said, trying to salvage the conversation from where it derailed. "Whoever cursed us has to be in Storybrooke too, so if we can track them down we can get to the bottom of this."

Crossing his arms, Kristoff nodded in stern agreement. "And when we find them, we'll know what happened to Elsa."

David blinked and squinted at him, not quite understanding. "What do you mean? Where is she?" he asked, looking between Kristoff and Anna for an explanation or an answer.

"She's gone. Or she's missing… I don't know," Anna admitted, shameful that she couldn't remember and afraid that the worst had befallen her sister. "I don't know if she made it back with the rest of us."

"I can't see her," Olaf said quietly, earning odd looks from both David and Mary-Margaret. He leaned back into the cushions of the visitor's couch, sharing a sad look with his brother. "Marshmallow can't feel her, either." Both boys looked defeated, like they failed in their sole duty to keep track of the royal siblings of Arendelle, though the apparent confusion from part of the room forced Kristoff to explain.

"They have powers that let them know where Anna and Elsa are," he told them, feeling less awkward when the married couple took his word for it. "They think that because they can't find her that she's still somewhere in the Enchanted Forest."

Mary-Margaret shook her head. "She couldn't be. That's impossible," she said. She looked to Anna, believing that the usually optimistic girl would agree that the idea was absurd.

Anna, however, was lost to her own worries. Mary-Margaret understood how hard it was, finding family just to lose them again, but the last thing she wanted was for Anna to lose faith in this dark time. "I don't know Elsa very well, but it was clear from the times I talked to her that she loves her family more than anything. Wherever she was when the curse brought us back, she couldn't have been far from any one of you. I know she's here," she said with confidence, drawing a small smile out of Anna and the boys who moments ago had been so glum. "Don't lose hope. I'm sure she wants to get home just as badly as you want to find her."

"And luckily for you, you've come to the right people to help," David added, reaching back and taking his wife's hand. "If there's anything this family's good at, it's finding people. We already have the dwarfs monitoring the town line to make sure nobody crosses it in the confusion, but we'll spread the word for everyone to keep an eye out for Elsa. We'll find her, I promise."

A small squeeze of her shoulder had Anna looking up at Kristoff. Throughout everything so far he had stayed sturdy as a rock, unwilling to let his emotions get the best of him until there was something to get upset over. It was too soon to mourn Elsa; they hadn't even gone out to search for her yet. Until they found where she was and discovered the truth behind her disappearance, Kristoff wasn't going to lose his head over the possible reasons why she was gone.

It was one of the many things Anna loved about him. His strength, along with the support of the boys and the Charmings, gave her the boost of courage she needed to push through her nervous thoughts and face the unknown head on.

"We'll start looking at her favorite places in town," Anna suggested, getting nods from everyone in the room, "and then we'll get into contact with the people she did commissions for. Someone has to have seen her by now."

* * *

" _Elsa? Elsa!"_

 _She blinked, shaking her head to bring herself out of a daydream and she looked to her left, leaning back defensively at the two sets of eyes staring at her. "What?"_

 _Kristoff pointed at her. "You've got a bite."_

 _She had a what? A brief look of bewilderment crossed her face until she followed where he was pointing, remembered where she was and realized what she was doing. "Oh. Oh!" she gasped as she looked to the water and saw the line of her fishing pole swaying back and forth._

 _After the exciting afternoon in the forest, the royal siblings and ice master returned home to change into something more comfortable than the riding and work outfits they were wearing before. Keeping the engagement a secret for now, the three took a small boat out onto the fjord with some fishing supplies._

 _Ever since their return from Storybrooke, the sisters hated that the castle staff wanted to do everything for them despite how normal it used to be before the curse came. It wasn't as though they weren't thankful for the help, but they were simply unused to it after living in the apartment by themselves for so long. They felt guilty in their off time that they could relax while the rest of the castle was busy caring for them._

 _It got to the point where they were feeling suffocated by the help, so at least once a week, Anna, Elsa and Kristoff were left to make their supper themselves while the kitchen staff were allowed the night off. It gave them back some of their independence that was lost when they returned to Arendelle, and their visits to the marketplace for ingredients were always welcomed with warm smiles and friendly faces from the village._

" _Do you want help?"_

" _Oh_ please. _I'm not hopeless," Elsa scoffed as she slowly reeled the line in. Kristoff and Anna watched her intently, biting back their helpful tips that they knew she would ignore to save her pride. Moments later, Elsa was pulling a cod the length of her arm out of the water and placing it in a net Kristoff held out for her. She grinned at her family, laughing at their dumbstruck faces. "We've been doing this for weeks, and every time I catch one I swear you two look at me like I'm using magic."_

" _Because you always get the biggest one!" Anna exclaimed, casting out her line with the brand new fishing pole her sister got her for her make-up birthday. "I didn't even know that you knew how to fish until after we came home."_

 _Elsa shrugged, baiting her hook before she cast it out again. "Did you think Papa would raise his heir and not teach her how to fend for herself? He taught me a little bit in the years that we were separated before things got… complicated," she mused, remembering how her magic took a leap in strength once she entered her teenage years._

 _A silence fell over them for a few minutes, interrupted only by Kristoff snagging a cod that just barely beat out Elsa's. Anna reeled in the final catch of the day, a healthy pollock, before they figured they had enough for supper and a meal for the following afternoon. After packing up their supplies, the three sat out on the boat for just a little longer, watching the sun turn the sky gold as it dipped towards the horizon at the end of the fjord._

 _Anna leaned into Kristoff, hugging his arm and taking her sister's hand. Elsa squeezed her fingers out of instinct, and the younger sibling sat up to watch her._

 _Her blue eyes sparkled in the sun dancing on calm waters, her pink smile small but true. She looked serene, just so calm and happy as she lost herself to the sea again. "What are you thinking about?" Anna asked softly, drawing her sister out of the quiet peace she fell into._

" _How I wish that this day would never end." She blushed a little, turning her sights to Kristoff and Anna and thinking of how special it was to have been able to help with the engagement, let alone be allowed to be there to witness it. "We've all gone through so much and been so busy since we returned…"_

" _It's nice just to be together for once without anything else getting in the way," Kristoff agreed, finishing the thought._

 _Anna nodded. "No more evil queens, no more curses, no more people trying to rip out our hearts…" She sighed, leaning on Kristoff again. "It's just us and Arendelle. And everyone else not in Arendelle. And the wedding. Oh my gosh the WEDDING, there is SO MUCH to do…!"_

" _Okay, okay, relax," Kristoff said, getting no help from Elsa again as all she could do was laugh at her sister's enthusiasm that day. "We've got time. Let's just enjoy the rest of today first, alright?"_

" _Fine, okay, you're right. And you can stop any time now, Giggles," she said, playfully tapping Elsa on the arm. The queen calmed herself and wiped away her tears, her heart swelling with love as she looked back to the golden horizon._

" _I hope it can be like this all the time," she thought to herself, casting her wish out to the waves, the sun, the mountains and anyone else who would hear her silent dream. "I want to spend every day with my family and show them how much I love them. It's the least I can do for everything they've given me."_


	3. White Knight

Several days later, there was still no sign of Elsa.

It wasn't from a lack of trying on Anna's part that she couldn't find her. She was running every day from before sunup to sundown, working both the paper run and her waitress gig at Granny's to make rent and keep a roof over her head. Kristoff would meet her after her shifts at the diner to make sure she took the time to slow down and eat, and then they'd go out into town together, searching for traces of Elsa's magic or anything that would point them in the direction of her whereabouts. Some days Olaf and Marshmallow would join them, but due to schoolwork, the boys were often left in Kai and Gerda's care until the evening so they could focus on their studies.

So far their tireless searching came up with nothing, and Anna returned home exhausted every night to an empty apartment. She tried scouring the place for clues, hoping maybe at some point Elsa had returned while she was away at work, but nothing in the small home had changed. Elsa's shoes were still on the mat, her keys hung on the hook, and her cellphone hadn't moved since the day Anna desperately tried to call it.

… _What if something really bad happened to her in Arendelle and she'll never come back?_

Anna took a shaky breath and closed her eyes. She couldn't think like that, not until there was actual proof that the worst had happened. Her lost memories held the answer, she was sure of it, but until she got back her missing year, it felt like a war was raging between her head and her heart. Her head was screaming with nervous thoughts and doubtful worries, but she knew that beneath all that noise, her heart spoke the truth.

"You're a true believer, Anna," Kristoff had told her, reminding her of the fact two nights ago when he dropped her off at home. "If your gut tells you that she's alive and she's here, then she is. I trust you."

She curled up on the couch with her diary, so thankful that Kristoff was there to support her and help her with the search. Just the thought of him had her looking up at the painting of the Arendelle fjord, and she smiled at it and all its fine details. It captured everything she loved about her home, from the natural beauty to the quaint and peaceful atmosphere of the village. It was where she met Kristoff, reunited with Elsa and made so many new friends.

And while having the painting in the apartment was nice, it was also wrong. It didn't belong and Anna had no memory of how it got there in the first place. Mr. Gold would never part with it for free, and even now after his death, she still couldn't afford it. The last curse had taken some things from Arendelle and put them in the pawn shop, but she couldn't imagine that this curse would have taken the painting from the pawn shop and put it in her apartment.

Elsa's disappearance and the misplaced painting weren't the only odd things around her Storybrooke home, either. Setting her diary on the coffee table, Anna took two trinkets she had found on the floor of her bedroom. She guessed she must have knocked them off her nightstand when she woke up and bolted out of bed on her first day back, but just like the painting, she didn't have either before she discovered she was cursed again.

The first was a silver ring. It looked tarnished, like it had been dropped in mud several times and washed with nothing but river water, but the simple design of the hollow cross in the center was still charming and remarkably sophisticated. If cleaned and polished properly, it could make a nice gift for someone. The second trinket was the same in which she didn't know who it belonged to, but there was no doubt who created it.

It was a necklace made of ice, durable despite its fragile look, though that didn't come as a surprise considering Elsa's snowflake made up the pendant. A small gem sat in the center where the points sprouted from, shimmering brilliantly even in the low light of the living room. Anna smiled at it, feeling calmer with the ice in her palm as though she were holding her sister's hand in that moment.

"Elsa…" she whispered, running her thumb over the snowflake. "I don't know where you are or what happened to you, but I swear I _will_ find you."

* * *

 _Nearly a month passed since Anna and Kristoff's engagement. Per Elsa's suggestion, they wasted little time in announcing it to the kingdom, mostly to keep the rumors from spreading about the silver ring that suddenly appeared on the princess' finger. Afterwards the castle erupted in a flurry of activity, preparing for the upcoming engagement dinner as well as helping the couple start planning for the big day. They chose to have the ceremony late in the summer, after Anna's twentieth birthday and the anniversary of Elsa's coronation. By then the weather would be mild, not too warm and not cold enough to threaten snow._

 _And despite all the excitement, the royal sisters hardly saw each other outside of meals that month. Anna spent most days making decisions and preparations while she could before the upcoming winter weather slowed everything down. Elsa, as always, was busy with her duties as queen, making sure her kingdom was ready to endure the season as well as dealing with some other unpleasant matters that required her full attention. She tried not to involve her sister as much as possible, wanting to let her enjoy preparing for her wedding without the added stress of the kingdom's affairs, but she had to admit the workload was catching up to her._

 _She didn't hide it very well, either. Anna could see the weariness in her face every time they sat down for a meal together; sometimes Elsa wouldn't show up at all and would have a small sandwich sent to her study. She still participated on the nights where the family would make their own supper, but even though her heart was in it, Anna could tell that her mind was focused elsewhere._

 _So when Anna rapped a familiar rhythm into the door of Elsa's study one afternoon, she expected to be turned away. Much to her surprise she was graciously invited in and met with a relieved smile._

" _Thank goodness you do that," Elsa sighed, leaning into the cushions of her high-backed chair. "If you knocked normally I would've thought you were one my advisors again."_

 _Anna winced, having noticed the way that her sister seemed to be surrounded by either advisors or council members every time she left her study. "Working hard?" she asked as she closed the door behind her and wandered further into the room. Elsa nodded, putting her pen down and folding her hands in her lap as she looked at the organized chaos of her workspace._

 _A small stack of papers bearing her signature was neatly put to the right corner of her desk, while a larger stack, seemingly undisturbed, sat on the left, waiting for her review. A tome bearing the royal colors and crocus of Arendelle had been pushed off to the side along with her finished work to make room for her analytical mind; the rest of her desk was crowded with lists and outbursts of mathematical calculations._

 _She pursed her lips, still focused on what she was doing but secretly thankful for the reprieve her sister had given her. "I'm trying to determine how much help we'll need to get through winter," Elsa said, seemingly daunted by the task. "The fish and lumber stock is fine, but when we came back from Storybrooke we missed the planting season. It'll be a late harvest, and if winter comes early we'll have to import almost everything else aside from berries and goat's milk." Closing her eyes, Elsa relented in a silent sigh and rubbed her forehead. "This is a bigger mess than I thought it would be. We have to be prepared before the fjord freezes over."_

 _A sudden warmth around her hand opened Elsa's eyes to meet her sister's. While she stressed, Anna didn't, and her confident smile brought Elsa out of her worries, if only for a moment. "You'll figure it out," Anna said, giving Elsa's hand a soft squeeze. "You always do. All of the villagers are working hard and they're not worried, so you shouldn't be either!"_

" _Well… I suppose if worse comes to worst, the village can live off of fish stew through the winter…"_

 _Anna put her hands on her hips, beaming at the idea. "There you go! Thinking positive!" She giggled as Elsa gave her a funny look, knowing that the secondary plan was incredulous at best, but it was better than nothing. Just the idea of it had Elsa deep in thought searching for another alternative while Anna marveled at just how much work she had done. She looked at the desk and everything on it, from the papers to the unlit candle her sister often worked by at night. But when she saw the royal-looking tome sitting solitary at the desk's edge, she grew curious. "What's that?" she asked, pointing to it._

 _Elsa blinked, having forgotten it was even there among the workload. "Oh, it's my autobiography," she said with a small smile, resting her hand on the thick leather cover. "Actually, it's more like a diary. It's… something that's required of me as the queen to keep track of my personal experiences as well as those as the monarch for future generations to look to for inspiration. I've been working on it in my spare time, but… it's hard to put my past into words."_

 _Anna cringed. There were some good memories of their childhoods that they both shared, but it was buried beneath years of heartbreak, loneliness and fear. Thinking back on it brought pain to the surface that Anna thought she was numb to by now, so she chose to look to the future instead of dwelling on what had already happened, something she wished her sister could learn to do as well._

" _You said these diary things are required?" Anna asked, getting a simple nod in return. "So… did Papa have one?"_

 _Slowly, Elsa reached for a drawer on the side of her desk. "Would you like to read it?"_

" _Yeah! W-Well, I mean, if you're done with it. I know you looked up to him a lot and I don't want-"_

" _It's okay, Anna," Elsa laughed as she brought out the large leather-bound tome. She handed it over, giggling again as the mere size of it threatened to topple Anna to the floor. "It looks like a lot, but he only wrote about halfway through because… you know."_

" _Gotcha. Are you sure about this?"_

 _Elsa nodded, dropping her sights to her own tome. "…Papa did everything he could for me, even after the accident," she said quietly. "I have to do what I can to put what I learned from him to use."_

 _Holding the book against her chest, Anna looked to her sister with pride. She spent so many years dealing with her unruly magic while studying and preparing for the day she would take the throne. In so many ways, Anna felt that Elsa was stronger than her by leaps and bounds, and she looked to her for inspiration now rather than resenting her for the years they were separated._

 _She wondered what kinds of things her father wrote about, what knowledge he had to pass down to Elsa and to future monarchs after her. He had to have written about his choices as king, but maybe he wrote about his family as well? There was hardly anything stopping Anna from taking a seat in front of the fireplace to start reading, but the chime of a grandfather clock in the hall stopped her before she could move. "Uh, w-wait, what time is it?"_

 _Elsa looked past her to the cuckoo clock hanging on the wall, silenced of course for her concentration. "Noon. Why?"_

" _Ooooh man! I'm gonna be late!"_

" _Late for what?" Elsa's question caught Anna halfway in a pivot, stilling her with a panicked expression on her face like she just got caught stealing chocolate from the kitchens again. "Are you up to something today?"_

 _Anna gulped, trying to relax her pose though her tense shoulders and wide, innocent smile made her look awkwardly stiff. "I've got… uh… an etiquette lesson today. Yeah."_

 _Confused, Elsa frowned. "You haven't had an etiquette lesson since you turned 18." She leaned forward, pressing Anna with suspicious stare, knowing now that she was trying to hide something from her._

 _Anna meanwhile just laughed it off, waving her hand like it was common knowledge what her plans were. "Well, you know, time flies and thirty years later I'm due for a refresher since I'm getting married and all."_

" _Anna—"_

 _But the princess was across the room by the time the queen stood from her seat to pursue her. "I'll see you at dinner!" Anna cheerfully called over her shoulder as she pulled open the door and briskly walked out, nearly knocking into someone as soon as she stepped into the hall. "Oh, sorry, Kai! Didn't see you there!"_

 _Elsa pinched the bridge of her nose, shaking her head at her sister's flighty nature as Kai entered the study. He cleared his throat at Anna's childlike escape, straightening his jacket with a sharp tug before addressing his queen. "Your visitor is awaiting your presence at the council chambers, Your Majesty."_

 _Well, that left no time to pursue what Anna was hiding from her, and the work she had been previously engrossed in would have to wait as well. Elsa walked around her desk, nodding to her assistant and caretaker as she passed him by. "Is Baldor close by?"_

" _He should be finished making introductions by now. He said he would meet you at the entrance to the wing."_

" _Good. Oh, and Kai?"_

" _Yes, milady?"_

"… _Weren't_ you _the one who took over etiquette instruction for Anna after Madame Nicolette retired?" Elsa asked, tilting her head to the side. Kai only had to think a moment before he nodded in affirmation._

" _Yes, of course. Why do you ask?"_

" _I was just curious."_

* * *

"Have a great day, Archie! Thanks for stopping in!"

With a bright smile, Anna waved to the therapist as he headed out the door and she swiftly pivoted, dropping off a blueberry muffin for young Pinocchio and refilling Leroy's coffee mug just before the grumpy man was about to complain about not having enough. "Okay, you're definitely Anna," he laughed as the redhead returned behind the counter to brew another pot of coffee. "Nina always waited until I bugged her for a refill. Welcome back, sister."

"Thank you," Anna smiled, aware that just before this new curse wiped away the last year of her life, she'd spent over a week stuck under the old curse that gave her a different persona. She looked over her shoulder at him as she waited for the coffee to start brewing. "So has there been any sign of…?"

The gruff, stocky man hung his head low, looking mad at himself. "Nothin'," he grumbled. "Can't tell the difference between her magic and the snow that's falling outside. We're keepin' an eye out for her."

All Anna could do was thank him for trying and she turned back to the coffee pot to hide her disappointment.

"You know, staring at it isn't going to make it work faster."

Startled, Anna spun around, about to make up some sort of excuse or apology when she was met with Granny's stern face. The old woman held up a hand to stop her, shaking her head. "No, I'm not mad about the things you broke in the last curse so save your breath, girl. I just wanted to tell you that for being gone for over a year, or whatever happened to us, you haven't forgotten a thing. You've got the whole waitress thing pinned down, young lady."

"Oh! Oh, thank you! That's really nice of you to say, Mrs. Lucas." Typically the compliment would cheer her up, but considering the circumstances it did very little. Granny noticed and put a hand on Anna's tense shoulder when she retreated back to the coffee maker.

"Ruby tried tracking your sister with the sweater you gave her last night," Granny said quietly, getting Anna's full attention. "The only scent she could catch led her straight to the town line where we said goodbye to Emma and Henry. After that it just… disappears."

"She can't just _disappear_!" Anna argued. Granny shot her a look to keep her voice down and Anna covered her mouth in apology. "Sorry, I… it doesn't make sense. I'm here, the boys are all here, Kai, Gerda and Oaken… I recognize some of the other villagers from Arendelle in town. Why is she the only one missing?"

Granny stepped back, taking a white carry-out container from the back shelf with a grim look on her face. "I'm starting to think that maybe your sister had something to do with the missing year."

"… _What?_ "

"It makes sense, don't it?" said Leroy, butting into the conversation. "Just about everyone's back, but _Elsa's_ the only one with magic who's missing. That's a little more than a coincidence."

Anna couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Why is everybody in this town so quick to blame her for things that go wrong?" She asked the question loud enough for the whole diner to hear, and while most of them ignored her, others were curious to what she had to say. She even caught the attention of a red-haired woman who sat in the furthest corner of the dining room; they locked eyes and the woman instantly looked away as though she had been caught staring. "Is it because of her magic? Is it because of the "Eternal Winter" thing?"

"She tried killing that guy who writes the newspaper!" somebody said. "And she shoved three people over the town line!"

Red in the face, Anna gripped the edge of the counter. "She was trying to _protect me_ and defend herself. And two of those guys fell over the line themselves; the one she pushed was aiming a crossbow at her. You can't just blame her for the missing year; we don't know—"

"You're right. We don't know," Granny interjected. She sighed, shoving the filled carry-out container into Anna's hands. "Carrot cake. For you and the boyfriend."

"Um, what for?"

"Your shift's done for the day," the elderly woman said, nodding to the clock on the wall. "Look, I want to believe Elsa has nothing to do with this, but until we find out the truth, we have to start looking at potentials. If anyone tops the list right now, it's that no-good mayor of ours."

"But—"

"Go finish up your tables. The more you stand here and argue the less time you have to look for your sister."

Anna blinked, watching Granny walk away to attend to a patron at the counter. _They can't really believe that Elsa would do something like this,_ she thought to herself. _No way. I get that they're scared, but... they don't know her like I do. Elsa wouldn't do this to us._

* * *

 _Ambassador Baldor of Arendelle paced outside of the council chambers, holding one fist to the small of his back as he stroked the hairs of his trimmed beard as a distraction from the discussion that was taking place behind closed doors. It had been nearly an hour now since Queen Elsa went inside to speak with Prince Willem of the Southern Isles, the representative his father, King Servi, sent in his stead._

 _It was a confusing situation. The king had offered peace to Arendelle before the Dark Curse took both kingdoms to Storybrooke. After they returned, Elsa had tried to reestablish contact but was ultimately denied any sort of correspondence with the island nation. Upon his arrival, Prince Willem refused to speak with the ambassador and only had words for the queen._

 _At the request of the prince, Baldor stayed outside but did his best to pry, pressing his ear against the door to see how Elsa was faring. Her steward, Kai, was inside with her for precautions, but he could not intervene in the negotiation. It wasn't as though Baldor was worried about how his queen would fare; he merely wanted to know what to expect once the negotiations were over. If it went well there would be little to worry about, but if Elsa was frustrated, things could get a little… chilly._

 _At one point he heard their voices rise. Elsa accused the prince of treating her like an idiot and demanded answers for his king's lack of proper communication, and afterwards Baldor heard nothing but Willem's rambling. Their voices returned to a quieter level and by the end of their discussion, they both sounded quite pleased, though he could recognize his queen's restricted tone. She wasn't happy._

" _Right this way, Your Highness." Baldor stepped back as the doors were opened, catching Kai's worried glance and giving a short bow to Prince Willem as he walked past. Elsa stepped out of the room and stood before the doors, folding her hands together as she watched them walk down the hall. As Baldor closed the doors of the chamber for her, she sighed once Kai and the prince disappeared around the corner._

" _How did it go?" Baldor asked, returning to his queen's side, hoping for good news. She only winced and turned her hands over, showing him the thin layer of frost that laced her palms._

" _It could have gone better," she admitted, wiping her hands on the skirt of her dress in an attempt to get the frost off. She took a step forward and motioned for Baldor to follow. "The prince was a nervous, clumsy talker. When I requested to speak with the king in person, I would have rather received a missive instead of having to deal with his son."_

 _Baldor smirked. He knew all about the Southern Isle's royal family, and though the younger sons could be charming, not all of them were quite as versed in politics as their older siblings. They were older than Elsa and she could talk circles around them. "Did he give any reason to his father's sudden denial of the treaty?" Baldor asked. "He was the one who drafted it."_

 _With a roll of her eyes, Elsa tilted her head as she looked to her advisor. "Out of all the childish reasons, what do you think it is?"_

"… _He doesn't trust you because of your magic?" Baldor guessed, getting affirmation when Elsa raised her brows and nodded. Of course he was right. All the nearby kingdoms looked to her cautiously due to both the Eternal Winter and for causing the Dark Curse to spread northward. It took weeks of correspondence to reestablish old alliances and trade contracts, some of which were current works in progress, and there were kingdoms still that only did so under the promise that Queen Elsa's actions would be closely watched._

 _She suddenly stopped walking as they approached the foyer. "Am I really that unpredictable?" she asked, wondering if her efforts thus far had been foolish or too straightforward. Though she sought aid from her council in many major decisions, the final word was always hers. "What happened on my coronation day was an accident, and when the Evil Queen requested my aid, you know I couldn't help her. I keep getting blamed as though refusing to take part in her vengeance was a horrible decision."_

 _Baldor offered his queen a warm smile in face of her worries, and she frowned, wondering how he could look so happy when reestablishing their kingdom had been such a struggle. "No matter how much time Storybrooke has stolen from us, one thing remains true: You are young, Your Majesty," he duly reminded, standing his ground when Elsa looked away from him as though she were ashamed of it. "We told you after you returned from the North Mountain that your rule would be a constant battle because of it. These old kings and vain princes see someone your age as an easy target, and they would go out of their way to take you down a peg just to raise themselves up."_

 _He wasn't wrong. Elsa remembered her father telling her something similar, that her gender would make her a target and if her powers were exposed, doubly so. Add in the fact that the curse caused her to be stuck in her young twenties for nearly three decades, it was no wonder her return from Storybrooke felt like a political minefield._

" _In my years, I have never seen a more qualified ruler of Arendelle."_

 _Elsa blinked, looking up to find Baldor with a genuine smile on his face. "I mean that, Your Majesty. You are wise beyond your years and it is clear to everyone that you truly love your people. You are doing a fine job, and it is an honor to aid you."_

" _Thank you… that really means a lot to me." Despite his kind words, there was a nagging feeling in her mind that just wouldn't let her believe him. She thought about what Prince Willem had said to her, caught the glint in his eye when he left the council chambers. King Servi's sudden refusal to negotiate the peace treaty was suspicious to her, and considering her past history with the Southern Isle's youngest son… she didn't have a good feeling about the future._

 _With a promise to reconvene with the council later that evening to discuss the current course of events, Elsa and her ambassador parted ways to think on the matter more. The only problem was that once Elsa was left alone to think, she overthought, and when she overthought she began to worry._

 _Her restless thoughts sent her throughout the castle at a pace that matched her quick mind. It was nice of Baldor to reassure her that she was doing a fine job as queen, but Elsa could only see this development as a sign that Arendelle was going to become a victim of war. They were a peaceful portside kingdom and she intended to keep it that way, but it was difficult when every thoughtful action she took for the good of her people was misinterpreted as a selfish or villainous act by her peers. Not one of her ancestors had to deal with this kind of scrutiny, but then, none of them were capable of magic._

 _She stopped walking and closed her eyes, taking a deep breath in an attempt to keep from getting upset. A loud clash of metal echoing from down the hall brought her out of mind to realize where she had wandered off to. Somehow she had gone to the military quarter of the castle, whether it was due to her fearful thoughts of the near future or simply because she hadn't visited the area for quite some time._

 _The clashing she recognized as sword strikes was coming from a training room at the end of the hall, and she smiled, brought back to old memories when she'd come down here during her adolescence. Her father thought archery would help to steel her mind and focus her powers, and while it worked for some time, the idea became useless after his death. Now Elsa thought that maybe she could use some practice again, not just with a bow and arrow, but with the aim of her icy magic._

 _When she stepped inside the room she didn't go far. The captain of the guard was spending some one on one training time with a recruit. The recruit was obviously young due to his shorter height and apparent lack of defined muscles, and he moved as though he wasn't sure of himself. But the longer she stood there and watched, the more she saw the recruit improve, parrying each blow that came his way while trying to get some strikes in of his own._

 _A natural break in the action separated the two and the captain sheathed his sword, taking off his helmet and smiling at the recruit until the young man went to do the same. As he took his helmet off, the captain spotted his queen and begged the recruit to put it back on. He looked at Her Majesty, hoping she hadn't noticed anything, but it was too late; Elsa could recognize that red hairstyle anywhere._

" _ANNA!"_

 _The princess cringed and tucked her helmet under her arm, watching the captain retreat in haste before she turned around and saw the furious storm that was her sister stalking towards her. Cape flowing and ice heels clicking against the floor with each rigid stomp, Elsa nearly worked up a flurry before she stopped and stared down at her little sibling clad in armor. "What do you think you're doing?!"_

" _I was just—"_

" _Do you realize how foolish this is?"_

" _Not re—"_

" _You could get hurt!"_

" _And I can_ totally _explain!"_

 _Elsa sternly crossed her arms and raised a brow. "I'm listening."_

 _She looked like she was more ready to sic Marshmallow on her, but sure, Anna had the go ahead. "Okay, I know you're mad—"_

" _I'm_ furious. _"_

" _No… that usually comes with ice spikes or—nevermind," she squeaked when Elsa shot her a cold glare. "You see, I was talking with Joan and…"_

 _Elsa sighed, covering her face with her hand. She didn't know what was worse: her sister learning swordplay or her sister talking to portraits again. "Anna… what is this about? You lied to me this afternoon to come here, didn't you?"_

" _Only because if I told you, you'd get upset and keep the captain from training me! You know I'm right," Anna said, chasing Elsa's sights when she looked away from her. Gripping the hilt of the sword at her hip, Anna rubbed the golden pommel with her gloved thumb, knowing her sister wouldn't like her explanation any more than she liked her actually learning to use a sword. "I want to learn how to defend myself," she stated boldly, unblinking when Elsa didn't seem to approve. "I heard you talking with Baldor last week about the Southern Isles, so I thought—"_

" _Anna…"_

" _I don't want you to worry about me," she finished. "Look, I know you want to protect me, and I want to protect you too, but… let's face it. Every time we got into a fight or a bad situation, I've just kind of winged it."_

 _Elsa shook her head and held up her hands. "What do you think I've been doing? I never had to fight until after my coronation."_

" _Yeah, but you've got ice magic! I've got… me."_

 _It was bad that her sister thought so little of herself that she felt that she couldn't be useful without picking up a skill, but it made Elsa feel worse that she felt she had to learn to fight because of recent events. "Anna, we aren't going to war because King Servi didn't sign the peace treaty! I want to prevent that!"_

" _I know that! I know, but…" Anna closed her eyes, clutching at the hilt of her sword with both hands now. "Elsa… when we were in Storybrooke, I got into so much trouble and I couldn't defend myself. I watched you get_ shot _and I couldn't do anything to protect you."_

" _You lost your memories."_

" _Only because I couldn't save myself from the Duke's goonies." She sighed in frustration at herself and looked to Elsa, hoping she would understand. "I know this is scary for you to see me do this and I know you're still going to try to protect me because that's just what you do… but let me learn, okay? Let me help you protect our home."_

 _Anna was capable of the training, that wasn't in question, but seeing her baby sister in armor and the thought of her fighting in battles… it only made Elsa want to work harder to make sure that those battles never happened._

 _She closed her eyes, wishing Anna wouldn't have tried to keep it a secret, but she understood why and she relented. "Fine," she nodded, happy to see the smile return to her sister's face. "You have to promise me one thing, though."_

" _Sure! What is it?"_

" _You have to stop training at least a month before your wedding," Elsa smirked. "Trust me,_ no one _wants to see their princess with bruises and a black eye on her wedding day."_

* * *

"Nope! No way, not gonna do it!"

"Anna, I'm telling you, if there's anyone else who can help us right now—"

"I'm not listening!"

"…she's the best chance we've got!"

"La, la, la, still can't hear you, Kristoff! Maybe come up with a different idea that doesn't involve You-Know-Who?"

Kristoff stopped walking and gave Anna a dull look as she continued down the sidewalk with her hands pressed against her ears, leaving him behind. They'd gone to every logical place in town they could think of to look for Elsa, called and talked to most of her previous customers to see if they'd come into contact with her. Even Belle was out of ideas, mentioning a secret elevator in the library that went to the mines and a hidden cave, but she was unsure if Elsa ever knew about it. Kristoff and Anna left the pawnshop with a plan to check out the mines and the forest over the next few days, but a sudden suggestion from her boyfriend had Anna heading down the street towards home.

Kristoff caught up to her and put a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, listen to me!" he begged, getting her to turn around. She pouted at him, mind already made up that she wasn't going along with his idea. "I know you don't like it, but Regina could really help us with this."

"Yeah, but there's one teeny, _tiny_ problem. She hates me," Anna bluntly stated. "The first time I ever really talked to her, she ripped my heart out and I kinda _like_ where it is right now." She turned back around to stay on her course, waving off Kristoff's thoughtful but impractical solution. "Regina always looks at me like I'm in the way; she's not gonna help me."

"She helped Elsa."

Anna rolled her eyes and looked at him from over her shoulder. "Yeah, but she respects her because of her magic. I'm not Elsa. I don't have magic, I've only got… hold that thought," she mumbled, looking down at her pocket when she was interrupted by her cellphone ringing. She pulled it out and read the caller I.D., confused for a moment before she answered. "David?"

Kristoff crossed his arms, unable to hear what David was saying through the phone and he looked at Anna, expecting her to give him some sort of clue to the conversation. All he got was a couple of "uh-huhs" and a "yeah" before Anna spun in a circle and walked into the middle of the street.

"Anna, get back here!"

Oblivious Anna simply smiled when she spotted something in the distance, uncaring of where she stood. "Oh yeah, I remember! We'll be over in a few minutes. We're just down the road." She snapped the lid of her phone shut and cheerfully turned around, waving Kristoff over. "What are you staring at?"

"…You're standing in the middle of the _street_."

"Well it's not like anyone is out _driving_." Anna motioned to the empty road and rolled her eyes again, walking back over and taking Kristoff's hand. "Come on! David invited us over; he said he found someone who could help us!"

"Let me guess: Regina?"

She punched him in the shoulder for that, but it was worth the dull pain to see the smirk on her face.

Kristoff allowed himself to be pulled along, laughing at the return of Anna's enthusiasm as she led him on the short walk down Main Street to a shabby apartment building; it reminded him of the first home Anna and Elsa shared during the original curse. The worn brick exterior and rickety picket fence did nothing to allude the building's age, and as Kristoff followed Anna inside and up the stairway, he did so carefully. Each step creaked under his weight and the wooden banister was so loose he felt like he could snap it off the wall.

"I would have guessed that the princess of the Enchanted Forest lived somewhere more… nice," Kristoff said, wiping crumbled paint flakes from the banister off his hand. "I guess Regina really didn't want her to have a happy ending, huh?"

Anna shook her head in agreement. "Yeah, she didn't make it easy for anybody. I think you're lucky that you got the cabin," she grinned, knocking on the faded green door to the Charming household as Kristoff caught up. David answered the door immediately, inviting the two inside the spacious apartment.

The place was warm and had an old feeling to it due to the worn paint and thrift store furniture, but it felt very much like the home of the famously brave and selfless heroes who protected this town. Mary-Margaret said her hellos from a couch at the corner of the room, practically glowing from where she sat as she held her round tummy. At the kitchen table was another visitor, a man dressed in black whose dark eyes never left Anna the moment she walked in. "Hello, Princess," he said with a smirk. "Lovely to make your acquaintance once again."

Anna raised a brow at him and leaned back, trying to put a name to the face. "Captain… Blade?"

" _Hook_ ," the pirate irritably corrected, holding up his namesake replacement for his hand. He stood up and approached her, looking down at her with a wry smile on his face. "But you can call me Killian."

"And _you_ can back off." Kristoff protectively stepped in front of Anna, halting Killian's advances before she even had the chance to brush him off on her own. Killian didn't retreat, though he frowned in disappointment.

"I take it this is your betrothed?" he asked, looking around Kristoff to find Anna nodding.

"Yeah. I-I mean, not _yet_ , but…" she stumbled, blushing at the thought of being engaged. "He's my… we're dating. Killian, this is Kristoff."

"Charmed," Killian quipped, smiling despite the death glare Kristoff was targeting him with. "Built like a sailor you are, Mister Kristoff. Anna's lucky to have such a strong man by her side."

Conflicted between wanting to punch the pirate's lights out for looking at Anna like a prize and thanking him for stepping off, Kristoff decided to take the compliment in silence and followed Anna's gentle pull on his arm. He turned around and saw David rubbing his forehead, embarrassed by Killian's antics. "He's helping us figure out what happened. That's the only reason he's here," David explained, silently apologizing to them both.

Anna shrugged, indifferent about the awkward encounter. "Wait, he's not the one who's supposed to help us find Elsa?" she asked, pointing over her shoulder with her thumb back at Killian. David shook his head, leaving her confused. "But if it isn't him, then who is it?"

"… _That_ would be me."

Anna snapped to attention at the familiar voice coming from the center of the room. She looked at the stairway that led up to the loft and watched as someone slowly came down, dark boots hardly making any noise on the old wooden steps. When the figure fully came into view, Anna stood still and gaped in shock; for a moment she thought she was seeing a ghost, but she could recognize that blonde hair and red leather jacket anywhere.

"We're going to find out who cast this curse and get your memories back," Emma Swan boldly claimed with a confident smile. "And we're going to find out what happened to your sister, Anna. I promise."


	4. Storybrooke Two Point Oh

Anna thought she was dreaming again. She had to be. Every moment felt hazy as though blinking at the wrong time would shatter this fragile reality. When she followed the Charming family out of the apartment and down the stairs, she did so in a daze. She didn't even know how or when they got to Granny's Bed and Breakfast, but she was sure it was due to Kristoff guiding her and keeping her safe on the way.

Nothing seemed real again until she took a seat in the communal area and watched Emma walk into the room. "Okay, Henry is asleep upstairs," Emma said, looking relieved as she sat down on a couch. "If he wakes up, you guys are helping me investigate on a case." With a heavy sigh, she leaned back into the cushions, thankful for the support after a long day. She seemed happy to be reunited with her family, but when she looked to everyone else around her, she grew concerned for the present true believer. "Anna? Are you okay?"

Anna blinked and snapped to attention. "No, yeah, I'm fine," she stuttered, trying to mask her own exhaustion from a long day of work and fruitless searching for her lost sister. It was hard for her to concentrate, she was so tired, and she had to remind herself of the lie to keep up if Henry came downstairs. "…Henry still doesn't remember us?"

"We both lost our memories when we crossed the town line to escape Storybrooke's destruction," Emma reminded. "When we left, I got my job back as a bail bondsperson and we lived in New York. It was… it was a good life." She smiled ruefully and Anna didn't doubt that it had been nice to get away from the magic and chaos that came with living in Storybrooke. Only Emma's sudden frown brought her to realize that the present wasn't exactly what the savior wanted for herself or even her son.

"How did you get your memories back, then?"

Emma shot a glare over at Killian after the question was asked. "A _pirate_ came knocking at my door a few days ago."

"You're welcome," saluted the captain with his namesake hook. "That potion did the trick as intended."

"Potion?" Kristoff perked up from his spot on the armrest of Anna's chair and he leaned forward, staring at Killian as though he said something wrong. "You gave her a memory potion?" he asked again, skeptical at the man's nod. "How did you get one? Those are rare, especially here, and the ingredients are impossible to find."

Killian scoffed at him, suddenly feeling as though he were under attack. "What are you, some kind of bloody alchemist?"

"No, I'm an ice harvester who tried to make one of those potions before we left Storybrooke," Kristoff scowled. "You don't just come across those or buy them in a shop."

"And what if I did?" he asked in challenge, daring Kristoff to continue the argument. When he chose not to, Killian relaxed in his seat, amused by his audacity. "If the truth is worth so much to you, then know that I didn't happen upon it. After returning to the Enchanted Forest, I parted from Snow White and the others," he said, nodding to Mary-Margaret. "I retrieved the Jolly Roger and set sail, and a year later a bird landed on my ship's wheel with a vial tied to its leg and instructions to find Emma Swan. Who actually sent the message is another mystery at this point."

"But we all made it back to our world, right?" Anna asked, falling back to her own thoughts when Killian nodded. She was right when she suspected that she and her family had returned to Arendelle for the past year and several months, but if only she could remember it. "What happened to us? We got cursed, yeah, but who cast it?"

David and Emma were about to start offering suggestions when the door on the far side of the room swung open. Leroy barged in with Happy right behind him, both looking panicked. "We lost another one," he declared, looking at everyone before turning his focus on David. "We're five now."

"Four, actually." Happy, in contrast to his name, frowned as he showed his fellow dwarf his phone. "Bashful's not answering."

"Wait, what is happening?" Emma looked at Anna, hoping she would know, but she was just as clueless.

Leroy looked frustrated, but when he saw Emma he lost his edge, just a little. "Thank god you're back, sister. Elsa's not the only one missing anymore," he said gravely. "Whoever cursed us is picking us off, one by one."

"Who exactly is missing?"

David shook his head, standing protectively behind Mary-Margaret's chair. "Aside from Elsa and the dwarfs, we're not exactly sure. There's been a lot of confusion the past couple of days; it's been hard to keep track of everyone."

Anna and Kristoff reeled from the information and looked to each other. It made their mission to find their lost family member harder now, because there were multiple scenarios in play that alluded to her fate. She could have avoided the second curse and was stuck alone in Arendelle. She could have returned to Storybrooke, but was in hiding to stay safe from whoever was causing these new disappearances. There were too many scenarios and not enough evidence to support any of them; the only sure thing was that Elsa had been there during the last curse and was gone now.

"We've _got_ to get our memories back," Anna said, interrupting the conversation Emma was having with her parents and the dwarfs. She felt Kristoff's hand at her back and felt stronger with his support, but inside she was shaking. Her sister was gone and now somebody was making other townsfolk disappear at random; she was just as susceptible to being taken as anyone else who lived there. "All of the answers we need are hidden in what we forgot, I just know it."

"That makes it easy, then. If we find out who cursed you guys, we can get them to destroy it like Regina did with the last curse," Emma concluded. "Whoever did it has to be in Storybrooke, too… and I think I might just have a plan to start smoking them out."

* * *

"Awkward" couldn't even begin to describe the scene at the diner the next morning.

Emma and Henry had come in for breakfast as usual, except Emma had to try to discreetly let the whole dining staff know that Henry had no memory of Storybrooke and its cursed people. Anna was already aware of it from her visit with the Charmings the previous night, but her co-workers fumbled over themselves, having to catch themselves before they said anything that Henry might not understand.

Ruby accidentally put cinnamon in his hot chocolate, which wouldn't have been a bad thing if the boy didn't ask how she knew to make his favorite drink. She rambled off some kind of excuse that Anna couldn't quite hear from behind the counter, but when Ruby turned around to get out of the odd conversation she got herself into, her face was as red as her name. To make things worse, when Mary-Margaret and David came in to join the pair for breakfast, they greeted them so casually that Henry questioned how they knew his mother. It was painful to watch the family try and get their story straight for the sake of the boy, and Anna offered Ruby a sympathetic smile when she retreated behind the counter after her blunder.

"This could not get any weirder," the brunette sighed as the commotion at the corner booth finally settled down.

Anna nodded, handing her a stack of napkins and a bin of clean utensils to start rolling. "Welcome to Storybrooke 2.0," she quipped, shaking her head as she looked around the dining room. "Where we're all fairy tale characters that live in a town with magic, but we get cursed faster than you can say "supercalifragilisticexpialidocious."" She pouted as she poured a cup of orange juice for one of her tables. "Losing your memory sucks, Ruby."

"You're telling me."

"No, seriously. Try losing yours _three times._ " She shook her head, pitying the Charming family as they tried to act normal for Henry. "I know how hard it was for Elsa, Kristoff and the boys to keep the whole magic thing a secret for me after I fell over the line so Nina wouldn't get scared or confused. It makes it harder to hide it from Henry because so many people know him."

Ruby smirked in thought as Anna took the orange juice and a plate of banana bread around the counter. "Yeah… but Elsa got your memories to come back, didn't she? I bet someone can do the same for him."

Shaking her head, Anna stopped and gave Ruby a skeptical look. "Nina was so stubborn and confused that Elsa _literally_ had to take a bullet for me to wake up. I just hope that whoever helps him doesn't have to go that far."

She honestly wished her _sister_ didn't have to go that far, but if it weren't for Elsa's quick thinking and cautious nature, neither one of them would be alive today.

 _If Elsa's even still alive…_

Anna clenched her jaw as the same dark recurring thought wormed its way into her head again. It was terrible how often she thought of it, but remembering that day in the boathouse when she cradled her sister's limp body in her arms brought the pain back. She was so certain Elsa was dying right in front of her; the world had gone dark in those long perilous moments until she woke up and brought the light back with her. Ever since, Anna was determined to never have to see her sister that way again. If she had to push her out of the way of danger to face it instead, she'd do it if it meant keeping her safe.

Only right now, it was hard to keep her safe when she didn't even know where she was. Anna tried not to dwell on it, knowing that after her shift she had the rest of the day to think and ruminate over her sister's fate all she wanted. For now, she forced a smile on her face as she dropped off what she was carrying at her customer's table, doing her best to ignore her rambling thoughts and the sound of shattering ceramic that brought the bustling diner to a standstill.

… _I really hope that was someone else and not me again…_

She looked up to where she heard the noise and cheered silently to herself; the shattered teacup was too far from her to have broken it. _Whew!_ But when she saw Regina standing there, staring at the corner booth where Henry sat, she felt her heart sink. Henry was Regina's everything, _her_ light in the darkness, and while it was great that he was there, he remembered absolutely nothing about her.

Her heart must have shattered just as much as the teacup when she saw him and realized that she had to talk to him like he wasn't her son.

Everyone moved quickly to mask the situation. Emma stood up from her seat at the booth and took Regina to the back of the diner to talk, knowing how she must have felt. Anna and Ruby cleaned up the mess, the former catching Granny's stern glare from the doors to the kitchen.

Anna rolled her eyes. "I don't break _everything…_ " she mumbled under her breath as she swept the shattered ceramic into a dust pan. Ruby's scoff at her claim went ignored and Anna retreated back behind the counter to dump the cup remnants into a cardboard box. She'd take it out back to the dumpster later; hopefully between now and then, nothing else would get broken that Granny would want to blame her for.

Turning her back to the counter and the rest of the diner, Anna's persistent, scattered thoughts returned as she started to brew a fresh pot of coffee. She felt she was trapped like a rat caught in a maze, and her goal at the center was impossible to find. Everywhere she looked came up as a dead end, and she couldn't shake the feeling that she was being watched. They all were. The recent string of abductions felt like a warning, a message to the town that something big was going to happen and anyone who tried to stop it would vanish just like the others. Anna couldn't become a victim if she wanted to find her sister, but how could she fight back if she didn't know what to look out for?

"Rough morning?"

She shrugged at the comment that came from behind her. "It could be better," she agreed with a half-smile. Reminding herself of where she was, Anna turned around with the intent of providing friendly service to whoever initiated the conversation. But when she saw the green-eyed monster sitting at the counter, her resolve to stay friendly and possibly earn a tip walked right out the front door. "...And it just got worse. Hans, what are you doing here?"

The auburn-haired man sat up straight, looking lost. "I just wanted a cup of coffee? Can I do that?" he asked, laughing as Anna turned around and bitterly snatched a mug off the shelf. "You don't have to be so hostile; it's not like _I'm_ the one who cursed the town."

Anna raised a brow as she set the mug on the counter. "I'm not so sure about that. You still seem to have that "I'm up to no good" look on your face," she said, looking down at Hans and refusing to pour his coffee until he gave her a better reason not to splash it on him. "The last time I saw you, you were trying to flirt with my sister. I might just take up Granny's policy and deny you service for harassing my family."

"It was Anderson trying to flirt with Elsa, not _me,_ " Hans argued. "Trust me, I wouldn't touch that mess with a stick…"

"…That _mess_ agreed to give you your memories back before we left, you _jerk_."

He gulped, sitting back when he saw Anna's left hand ball into a fist. Her right held onto the coffee pot so tightly that it shook. "Honestly, do you really think I would curse everyone?" he asked, trying to change the subject. "What for?"

"Well, people liked you more in Storybrooke because you didn't tried to murder anyone and steal their inheritance," she started, holding up her forefinger to count Hans' misdeeds. "You didn't emotionally cripple anyone here, not that I know of. Oh, and you didn't _lie_ to someone's face and use them to get to where you are now. That's a big improvement," she sniped. "Things are a lot better for you here than in the Southern Isles, isn't it?"

She was right; life for him in Storybrooke was far, _far_ better than what the Southern Isles had been, even when he was still a prince before the title was taken from him. "If you think I have something to do with why Elsa's missing, you're wrong," he declared, keeping his voice down to avoid making a scene. Anna's insistence that he was the culprit was irritating after he had tried so hard in the last curse to make an honest name for himself. "My memory's gone too. I don't have anything to do with this."

"One year is a long time to forget," Anna said, raising her brows at him. "How do you know you didn't try something?"

"I don't. You just have to trust me."

"That's asking a _lot_ after the kinds of things you've pulled in the past, Hans."

"Other people are disappearing from town. You don't have a choice _but_ to trust me because I'm working the case and your sister's on the missing person's list." He pointed to the gold police enforcer's badge he wore on his jacket and Anna peered closer to read what it said.

She tilted her head to the side. "Since when did you make deputy?"

"Since this morning." They both looked up, watching Emma as she came from the back of the diner to stop and talk with them at the counter. She faced Anna's glare boldly, shrugging when the waitress questioned her decision. "What? He helped the investigation when Cora took Elsa's heart and he tried to save you from those guys Peter Pan sent after you. He earned it," she reasoned. "Besides, we need all the help we can get right now."

Hans smirked, thankful that someone in this town had faith in him. He spotted Regina out of the corner of his eye, watched her pay Ruby for the broken teacup and then walk out the diner with a deep frown on her face. "Did you get anything out of her?" he asked Emma, turning away from the interrogating spitfire who was holding his coffee hostage.

"Nothing other than we'll have to look somewhere else for our villain. Regina didn't curse anyone, not this time." She put her hands on her hips, at a loss but not without hope that they'd find their perpetrator soon. "We've worked out a plan to try and sniff out whoever cursed you guys at the Town Hall meeting later. You're going, right, Anna?"

Anna looked between Emma and Hans and settled for staring at the countertop. Usually she'd be all for going to a Town Hall meeting. They were always informative and a good way to kill some time if she needed to, but given the current state of events, she couldn't see anything useful coming out of that meeting for her. She shook her head sadly. "I already know how it's going to go. We'll start talking about the curse and then everybody will start blaming Regina and my sister for it."

"Elsa wouldn't curse anyone on purpose. She's too good," Hans said, surprising Anna with his accurate observation. "If you know that, then why don't you go and tell everyone at the meeting?"

"Because they're scared. They won't believe me." Anna sighed, frustrated with how stubborn the town could be. "Everyone spends so much time arguing and talking themselves into believing things that aren't true without going out and _looking_ for the truth."

"Skip the meeting then," Emma shrugged, crossing her arms. "But you're still going to Town Hall today."

Anna stood up straight. "I am?"

Emma nodded. "You want to find Elsa? We're going to need Regina's help."

"Uh… no. Nice idea, but that's not—"

"Hey, I said I'd help you find her, right? Regina's the best chance we've got for a lead right now," Emma said. She glanced over her shoulder to her family waiting at the booth for her; David and Mary-Margaret were silently pleading for her hasty return with long, hopeless stares. "Come to the mayor's office after you get off work. We'll get her to help; trust me on that."

She turned and walked away to rejoin her family, giving Anna and Hans a parting smile before she left. Hans watched her go and turned back to Anna, watching as her frown slowly spread into a small grin. She looked like she regained a little confidence; whatever was bothering her before didn't seem to weigh so heavily on her now. Despite her reluctance to meet with the mayor, it was clear to Hans that Anna would show up at Town Hall later.

It actually made him a little jealous that Emma had inspired her so quickly.

He looked up at Anna and pointed over his shoulder with his thumb. "So you trust her to help you talk to the Evil Queen without getting scorched, but you don't trust _me_ when I tell you that I didn't curse us all to come back here?"

Anna's smile faded in an instant and she gave Hans a dull look. "Emma never locked me in a room to freeze to death."

"…I'm not getting a coffee today, am I?"

She stared at him. He was still the same irritating and antagonizing two-faced jerk she remembered punching off the side of a boat years ago, but he was also the man who was still trying to make a change and a name for himself in Storybrooke. He was investigating the reason why Elsa and the others were missing, and anything he could uncover would be a lot more useful to Anna than if he just stayed out of it.

Relenting, she poured the mug full of coffee for him. "Need sugar?"

"Yeah. One please."

He bit his tongue as a white packet smacked him square in the forehead and fell in his lap.

"…Thanks."

* * *

Later that afternoon, Anna stood outside on the steps leading to Town Hall. She noticed a significant lack of cars in the parking lot; either the meeting was super short or it wasn't advertised well enough for a big turn-out. There was also the possibility that something terrible or frightening happened that caused the meeting to end early; a likely outcome considering how bad previous meetings had ended before.

She shivered and put her hands in her pockets, rocking on her heels as she looked up at the clock above the doors. She'd wished she could have gone to talk to Regina with Emma as soon as the savior suggested the plan, because as the day wore on, Anna started to think that maybe it wasn't such a good idea. The mayor of Storybrooke wielded dark magic and she rarely, if ever, did favors for anyone. She was much like the late Mr. Gold in that there was a price to pay for her services, and Anna didn't have much in terms of money or otherwise.

 _What are you so afraid of? Emma will be there too, and if she can help, you'll be so much closer to finding Elsa. Plus… it's freezing out here. Even if she says no, you can warm up before she chases you away, right?_

The half-baked pep talk would have to do for now. Anna walked into the building, determined to confront the Evil Queen even if she had to kick her door down.

She probably wouldn't actually kick her door down, of course, but it was a nice visual that served to embolden Anna's resolve. She ran up the stairs to the second floor of the building and found her way into a secluded hall, stopping in front of a fogged glass door that read "MAYOR" in gold letters. She took a deep breath, knowing that was her last opportunity to turn and walk away, but she knew she couldn't. She needed the help, and so she timidly knocked on the wood and waited for a response.

She got nothing. She tried knocking again, a little louder this time, and still got nothing. _Maybe they left already,_ she thought, but through the fogged glass she could see shadows moving. Without thinking that she could be interrupting something, Anna opened the door and stepped inside, only to take that step back when she saw something flying towards her out of the corner of her eye.

Glass smashed against the far wall and Anna looked to her right, finding Regina scowling and Emma sitting behind her at a table with a shocked look on her face. Anna stood still, afraid to move, and when both women stared at her, she started to back into the hall. "Uh, maybe I should go…"

"Hold on Anna, wait a minute." Emma stood from her seat, casting a quick concerned glance at Regina before she went after Anna and pulled her back into the room. "She wasn't throwing that at you. She just got… frustrated."

"It didn't work!" Regina spat, slamming her hands on the table and rattling what looked like an at-home chemistry set. She clenched her teeth, seething as she searched for what had gone wrong. "I must have missed an ingredient."

"What were you guys trying to make?"

Anna earned the ire of Regina's dark stare and she shrunk back as the mayor fully stood to look at her. "We were trying to make a memory potion. Somehow my stock of dragon scales went missing between curses and I had to try to replicate the potion from one that was already made. As you can see," she pointed to the shattered glass on the floor, "it was a complete failure."

"Can't you try again?"

"I used up what was left of the potion Hook gave to Emma; there's nothing left to replicate," Regina explained, saying it as though Anna should have already known why the task was impossible now. She put her hands on her hips, scoffing as Anna took off her mittens and shoved them into the pockets of her jacket. "Oh, don't make yourself comfortable, Pipsqueak. You weren't invited here, so I suggest seeing yourself out."

Anna was about to protest when Emma quickly jumped to defend her. "I invited her here," she said calmly, trying to cut the tension the mayor was imposing on the young princess. "She wants to help us find out who cursed the town."

"Oh, _does_ she?" The dark arch of a brow raised in question and painted lips pursed in interest. Regina crossed her arms now, wondering how the clumsy, awkward little runt from Arendelle could possibly be of any help. If anything, in Regina's mind, she'd be more useful if she had brought her sister with her. "Where is the Snow Queen?" she asked, watching with slight irritation as Anna took off her coat and draped it over the back of a chair.

"She's… Elsa's missing."

Regina shook her head, clearly disagreeing. "People don't go missing; they either run away or something happens to them. Considering it's your sister, we really don't know which," she mused.

" _How_ Elsa disappeared doesn't really matter at this point," Emma said, trying to keep Regina on track and the insults to a minimum. "Anna needs our help to find her. Elsa was gone before people started getting abducted; we don't know if she made it back or not."

"Well, isn't that _your_ thing, Swan? Finding people?"

"Yeah, but—"

"But what? You want a magical shortcut you can't make yourself, is that it?" Regina irritably snapped. "I may owe some sympathy to Elsa after what I've put her through, but I certainly don't owe anything to you or Swiss Miss over here." She glared at Anna, looking down upon her as though she was nothing. "I'm all out of favors. Unless if you have any information on whoever is threatening the town, you can leave, Hummel. You're just as useless to me as your sister right now."

Anna stilled. Regina's words struck a harsh cord within her, one she had wished she had gone deaf to a long time ago.

She was useless. Regina didn't need to tell her; she already knew it herself. She had been useless since the day she was born, the spare to a kingdom that already had a brilliant and worthy heir. She was useless as a sister, unable to completely understand Elsa's magic let alone discover her whereabouts after the recent curse. There were times when she felt worthless as a supposed "hero", because there were many times she didn't feel brave or heroic without her friends or family.

In those short moments, Anna felt like she wanted to leave the office and just go home.

But she didn't, because for as down and incompetent as she often felt she was, she knew better than anyone just how capable and useful she could be.

"No. I'm not leaving." She stood boldly with her shoulders square and her hands curled into fists at her side. She saved Elsa from Prince Hans, brought summer back to Arendelle after the Eternal Winter and ran headfirst into danger numerous times in Storybrooke for the sake of her family and others. She was a hero, and it was about time Regina understood the she was more than the ordinary half of an otherwise magical sisterhood.

Anna stared her in the eyes and felt Emma watching, knowing the sheriff would be ready to step in if things literally got heated. She wouldn't have to, of course, because Anna felt confident she could handle this with a lesson in poise she learned from Elsa. "This town is in danger, I know that, but so is my sister. You're not going to stop trying to get Henry's memories back, are you?"

The question silenced Regina to her own thoughts. She didn't answer, but Anna already knew the lengths Regina would go to get what she wanted. She saw her heartbreak clearly in the diner that morning; she wasn't giving up on her son.

"I'm not going to give up on Elsa," Anna vowed, knowing she and Regina shared the same determination. "Wherever she is or whatever she's going through, I don't want her to have to face it alone. I won't stop looking for her until I bring her home again, but if there's any way you could help me find her… I'd really appreciate it."

She took a deep breath and relaxed her hands at her sides. Regina said nothing, only stood back and looked to the floor in thought. Emma, meanwhile, took the opportunity to give Anna an approving nod for the way she stood up to the former Evil Queen. Not many people would have the courage to do so, let alone keep their nerve in her presence.

"…Miss Hummel?"

Anna snapped to attention at the sound of her last name. "Yes?"

Regina's dark eyes and stern frown fueled Anna's fears that she would be denied and get kicked out of the office with nothing to show for her efforts. It surprised her, then, when Regina next spoke. "If your sister is still in Arendelle, you know we can't bring her back, right?"

It was a reality Anna had already braced herself for. She nodded, unwilling to believe it until she had proof.

"But since there's a chance she's here… a spell in this case would be useless…" Regina mused, turning back to her chemistry set. "Whoever cursed us is probably well versed in magic and could fizzle out the spell before it locates the Snow Queen. A _potion_ however…"

She started to move around her equipment, taking vials of something and mixing it in a dish with another something that Anna couldn't distinguish. It wasn't until a few moments passed that Anna realized what Regina was doing. "Wait… you're going to help me?" she asked in disbelief.

"On one condition," Regina smiled, and it wasn't one of her usual fake smiles, either. "You help Swan and the Charming idiots watch after Henry."

"…You want me to _babysit?_ "

"No. Just… take him out into town once in a while when they can't. Try to jog his memory if you can. It shouldn't be hard for a true believer to take care of another, right?"

Anna smirked and crossed her arms. That deal was way too good to pass up.

"All right, you got it," she agreed, feeling relieved when Regina nodded and turned back to the chemistry set. "Thank you so much for doing this. You have no idea how much this is going to help."

"Don't thank me just yet." Regina pursed her lips together in concentration as she continued to work, taking a pinch of ashen powder and dropping it into a beaker with flakes of gold. " _You're_ the one who has to go looking for her. We don't know where she is or what she's doing, but my guess is that if she hasn't shown up yet… you may not like what you're going to find."

* * *

An hour later, Anna stood in the middle of her living room, grinning ear to ear as Kristoff held up a vial of clear blue liquid: the "tracker potion" Regina had made to locate Elsa. He turned it side to side and shook it. "Are you sure it's going to work?"

"Nope!" Anna smirked as she plucked the vial out of his hand. "But I trust Emma, and Emma trusts Regina, so it's gotta work."

Honestly, Kristoff didn't trust anyone aside from his own family, but if Anna believed that the potion would do as intended, then she had his confidence. "So what do we do with it? Feed it to Sven and follow him to Elsa?"

"…I think if Regina found out that we gave her potion to Sven, she'd discover some way to rip out my heart from halfway across town. You should've seen her face when I walked in her office," Anna sighed. "No, she said to pour it over something Elsa owned and it'll lead us to her."

Like Anna, Elsa didn't have very many things in Storybrooke. She was rich in love and wealthy in paint and art supplies, but the last thing Anna wanted was to pour the potion over something her sister cherished and have it get ruined on the way to its owner.

Finding something to use turned out to be easier than she thought it would be. After a few minutes of looking around Elsa's room, Anna settled on taking one of her gloves. For as often as she had to wear them, Elsa truly hated them, so she wouldn't care if one went missing or got completely ruined. Besides, she had bought so many extra pairs after Anna had fallen over the town line that she practically had a stockpile of them.

Excited but nervous, Anna and Kristoff left the apartment and made their way down the stairwell. By the time they made it to the last staircase, Anna was so eager that she ran down the steps and burst out the front doors of her building, colliding head on with a frigid wall of cold air and a flurry of snow. She stopped in awe of the flakes as they swirled and glistened, smiling to herself as Kristoff caught up to her and put a hand on her shoulder. To anyone else it was a typical snowfall; to Anna and Kristoff, it was a sign that this time they'd be successful in their search.

With a final glance at the gray winter sky and a hopeful wish in her heart, Anna pulled the cork from the vial and gave Elsa's glove to Kristoff. "Ready?" she asked, more to herself than her boyfriend. He nodded regardless and took a stance, unsure of what to expect but wanting to be ready for anything. "Okay… here it goes." Carefully, Anna poured the potion onto the glove, shaking the vial to make sure she emptied every last drop onto the article. The white leather absorbed the blue liquid in an instant, but for several long moments, nothing happened.

Neither one of them spoke to dismiss it, they just stared at the glove in Kristoff's open hand in silence, watching and waiting for something to happen.

They didn't have to wait long.

Kristoff backed away in shock as the glove suddenly tumbled out of his hand, caught on a wind that didn't exist on the still afternoon. It floated away from them, crossing the street and then heading down the sidewalk on its way to a destination.

"Kristoff… Elsa's here. She's here!"

It didn't matter to Anna where the glove was going or how long she would have to follow it; it was moving and that meant Elsa was _alive_ and in Storybrooke. She took Kristoff's hand and darted into the street, giving chase to the enchanted leather that would reunite her with her missing sister at long last.


	5. Monkey Business

_If there was any sure sign that winter was fast approaching, it was the bitter chill in the morning breeze. Anna shivered, pulling her green cloak tight around her shoulders as she walked the castle gardens with Olaf. His magical flurry was fading, not because of a lack of upkeep, but due to the colder weather making it almost unnecessary. Anna was sure by the time winter came in full force, the snow cloud would completely disappear until the seasons changed again._

 _The little snowman waddled over to a small pond and sat at the edge with Anna, giggling and wiggling his feet as a group of baby ducklings approached them. The mother watched from a distance, used to Anna's visits by now but curious about the white creature that accompanied her that morning._

" _Aww! They like me!" Olaf smiled as a few jumped into his lap. He wrapped his stick arms around them, hugging them to his cheek, laughing as they squawked back. "I like you too!"_

" _I think you made some new friends," Anna grinned, giggling as the little one in her hand jumped out to run after the snowman. After Olaf gently set the ducklings down, he stood up to look at a nearby flower and was followed by a line of the baby birds. When he noticed, he led them all in a march around the pond, singing a song to them and ending it by the time they got back to where they started. He sat down again and watched as the ducklings scattered, playing together under their mother's protective watch._

" _This is fun!" he exclaimed, looking at the water to see if he would make any other friends that morning. "I wish Elsa, Kristoff, Sven and Marshmallow were here, too!"_

 _Hugging her knees, Anna smiled, wishing the same. "Kristoff and Sven are harvesting ice today, and Marshmallow's at the North Mountain trying to get over his fear of heights," she told him, watching the water ripple in the soft breeze. "And I know Elsa would want to be here, but she's been busy."_

 _Olaf nodded, tapping his feet together. "She's thinking a lot lately."_

" _She's got a lot on her mind right now."_

" _Yeah. She needs a day off to relax. That way she can come with us to see the ducks in the morning!" he smiled, watching the little ones play until the mother duck squawked loudly and all her children huddled around her. She waddled away and the ducklings followed, leaving Olaf wondering. "Where are they going? They don't want to play anymore?"_

" _I think it's time for their breakfast," Anna giggled. She stood up and brushed off her pale green skirt. "And I think it's time for ours, too. I'm getting kinda hungry."_

" _You go ahead! I still have to say good morning to the horses and the staff," Olaf said, his dark eyes bright as he skipped away. He waved at her as he started down a path that led out of the gardens and towards the stables. "Bye Anna! I'll see you later!"_

" _Bye Olaf!"_

 _Led by the growling of her stomach, Anna returned to the warmth of the castle and sped down the hallways, too hungry to even think of kicking off her shoes and sliding down the polished wood floors. She discarded her cloak once she entered the dining hall, draping it over a chair at the side of the room before she took her seat._

 _The seat next to hers at the head of the table was set; a welcome invitation for Elsa to join that was lately left forgotten by the busy monarch. Actually, the long table was beginning to feel as lonely as it used to, back when Elsa hardly left her room and their parents were occupied with their duties. Anna sighed; everyone was busy, she knew that, but family meals were starting to become rare again._

 _She tried to cast away her disappointment when several servants arrived to bring out a small spread of breads, cheeses, thinly sliced meats and a bowl of mixed berries. Anna kindly thanked them and started preparing a sandwich for herself when a small plate of pickled herring was set on the table. She turned her nose up at it, wondering why it was brought out when she was the only one there. All the servants knew that under any circumstance she wouldn't touch it._

 _It wasn't until moments later that she realized the reason for the smelly fish. Elsa walked in from the far side of the hall, carrying a pair of scrolls beneath her arm as she approached the table. "Good morning Anna!"_

" _Wow… 'morning," Anna replied, watching as Elsa set the scrolls down and took her seat at the table, looking casual yet refined in a dress of her homeland's fashion. The short sleeves still suited her in the colder weather and the accompanying jacket remained off for now, a sign that the queen was relaxed._

 _As Elsa situated herself, she noticed her sister's surprised stare. "What?"_

" _No, no, it's nothing," Anna said, waving it off as she continued to build her sandwich. "I just didn't expect you to come down, that's all. It's good to see you somewhere that isn't the study or the council chambers for a change."_

" _Well, it's nice to have a little break once in a while. The council and I found a solution to the loss of trade from Radias, so that's a lot less work at my desk." Elsa sighed, tense, work-worn shoulders dropping just a little and she noticed the small dish situated near her place at the table. "Ooh, pickled herring. That will be mine," she grinned, taking the entire plate for herself along with a piece of bread and some berries._

 _Anna made a noise of disgust. "How can you eat that stuff? I swear you have Papa's taste in food."_

" _No I don't. Papa liked lutefisk and I can't stand it. There's a difference."_

" _Blegh…"_

" _And if I have Papa's taste in food, then you have his knack for writing," the queen mused. "When you let me read the things you wrote in Storybrooke, it reminded me of how Papa composed his tome. You both write like you're talking to someone, and when I read the words I can hear your voices. You're quite the storyteller, Anna. I mean that."_

 _A furious blush burned across Anna's freckled nose and she quickly took a bite of her sandwich just to try and hide it. Elsa laughed when she realized she embarrassed her with the compliment, though Anna recovered quickly enough to roll into a conversation about the new bookstore in town._

 _Elsa enjoyed talking with her sister as they ate, catching up on some things in the village as she rarely had time for visits between all the work she was doing. And it was a thrill for Anna to see her sister being so casual, because every time she saw her in passing for the past several weeks, she was in total "Queen Mode": shoulders back, head high, and hands folded with a pleasant, neutral smile. Some days Anna felt like Elsa had been replaced by an android, if only such things existed in Arendelle._

 _The conversation slowed a little as did their appetites, only a few slices of meat and about a handful of berries left between them. Anna looked to the window, wondering what was in store for her that day. The morning had been nice so far and being able to sit down and spend time with her sister clearly made them both happy. She turned back to the table, about to ask Elsa what her plans were until she found her deeply engrossed in one of the scrolls. "…Elsa, what's that?"_

" _Just a bit of light reading…" Elsa turned the rods to continue analyzing the document when the bottom rod slipped out of her hand. The parchment unraveled itself, falling to the table before it promptly rolled off and continued past her chair. She followed it from the corner of her eye; Anna leaned out of her chair to watch it come to a stop at the door._

" _Uh,_ light _reading?"_

"… _It looked smaller when the courier delivered it…"_

 _Anna scoffed, shaking her head as Elsa buried her nose back into the contents of the scroll. Elsa hadn't stopped working since they came back from Storybrooke; she barely paused long enough to eat. It was clear to Anna that her sister needed an intervention, one that only she could provide._

" _Olaf was right," she started, staring as Elsa continued to read. "You need to take a day off. Like,_ today _. Starting right now."_

 _Elsa rolled her eyes. "Anna, I can't—"_

" _You're the queen. Yes you can," Anna argued. She jumped up out of her seat and went to where the scroll had come to an end. Picking it up, she started to re-roll it as she strictly stared her sister down. "No locking yourself in the study today," she ordered. "No politics, no meetings, and no scrolls." She met the other end of the missive Elsa had been reading and snapped it out of her hand, playfully bopping her on the head with it. "And no more reading at the table when we're eating! It can wait until you're done!"_

 _Elsa looked hopeless as Anna snatched the other scroll off the table and held it behind her back with the first. She raised a brow and her lips drew back in a strict frown, silently ordering her sister to give them back, but the princess simply smiled, daring her to come and take them. "Anna, I don't have time for this."_

" _Yeah you do. Are you telling me that the Queen of Arendelle doesn't have at least a few hours to spare for a horseback ride?" she asked, grinning when she saw Elsa's stern look shift to one of intrigue. "It's just an afternoon outing, Elsa. After that, you can lock yourself in the study all night if you want to."_

 _Taking a deep breath, Elsa sighed quietly. She had so many things that needed to be done, and she felt guilty taking time out for recreation when her council was working just as hard as she was. But Anna was determined to make her go, and the last thing Elsa wanted was to disappoint her again._

 _And to be honest… she really wanted some time out of the castle as well._

" _Okay, fine," Elsa nodded. "We can go, but just for a few hours!" she warned as she stood from her seat._

 _Anna smiled, handing the scrolls back to her sister. "We'll be back before you know it!"_

* * *

 _While getting Elsa to agree to an afternoon outing was simple, actually getting her out of the castle was a chore. After changing into their riding outfits, Anna again found Elsa in her study, claiming to have forgotten to sign off on a document that she'd spent the last night reviewing. With a bit of prodding and brute force, Anna finally managed to get her out the front doors and to the stables. Magnus' bright eyed reaction at seeing her for the first time in days all but convinced Elsa that she needed some time away from work._

 _The ride through the forest was uneventful and eerily quiet; Arendelle was well into autumn now and much like the presiding queen, the forest inhabitants were preparing for an early winter. Even the air was still save for an occasional chilling breeze that Anna was sure wasn't natural, especially since it came from the direction of the horse and rider next to her._

 _She suggested a race and Elsa uncharacteristically declined, her mind so focused on numerous other things that she couldn't get into the competitive spirit. Anna was content to keep the slower pace, but she eyed her sister out of concern. Elsa couldn't mask her emotions as well as she used to, and it was clear by the tense look on her face that something was weighing heavily on her mind._

 _They stopped at a clearing on their way back to the village, dismounting to allow Kjekk and Magnus to graze. Tired, Elsa relocated to a fallen log, taking off her riding gloves and holding her hands in her lap as she watched the horses wander._

 _Anna watched her for a moment before approaching her; Elsa was there, but her eyes were distant. She was lost in thought again, as far gone as the queen usually was on the busiest of days._

 _With her hands behind her back, Anna casually strolled up to the log. "Okay… what's wrong?"_

 _Elsa blinked. "Nothing's wrong."_

" _Yeah there is. You're doing that staring off into space thing_ and _the hand thing."_

 _The queen looked down at her hands folded against her stomach and she blushed, turning away as Anna sat down next to her. "I've got a lot on my mind."_

" _Well yeah, that's obvious. You're starting to_ snow. _" She winced when she saw Elsa shrink back, horrified at the faint flurry materializing around her. "I'm just worried. You always work hard, but ever since that day when you met with that jerkface—"_

" _Prince Willem of the Southern Isles?"_

" _Yeah, that guy. You've been working so much harder. Did something happen?" she asked, unwillingly triggering something because the flurry grew and Elsa coiled into herself at the question. "Did he say something? If he insulted you then I'm getting on a ship to the Southern Isles the minute we get back—"_

" _No, Anna, he didn't…" Elsa felt the magic in her hands prickling at her fingertips and she took a deep breath, mentally counted to four, and exhaled. She rested the backs of her hands on her knees, staring at the crude, faint scar on her left palm. "He just reminded me of some mistakes I made."_

 _Anna smiled a little, tucking her hair behind her right ear. She was able to relate, or at least she thought she could. "Everybody makes mistakes, Elsa. That's how we learn."_

 _She could tell that her attempt to encourage her sister only made her feel worse when Elsa's fingers clenched into fists. "Except my mistakes only result in people getting cursed or hurt," she cringed, turning to meet Anna's calm eyes through the snow, and then to the spot in her hair where a painful blonde streak had once been for over thirteen years._

" _He brought up the Dark Curse, didn't he?"_

 _Elsa frowned and looked away as she thought back to when Regina's Dark Guard attacked her in her throne room. Her memories mocked her, belittled her and made her feel insignificant and stupid, to the point where she wondered why anyone ever trusted her with Arendelle's protection. Clearly, in her mind, she was unsuited for the job._

 _She gasped when Anna's fingers covered the scar on her palm and fought the instinct to pull away. Despite the bitter day, Anna's hand felt warm. That warmth inspired Elsa to slow her racing thoughts and listen._

" _The Dark Curse wasn't your fault, and… don't," Anna warned, holding up a finger to stop the oncoming protest. "We've argued about it before. You did the right thing."_

" _Not everyone feels that way."_

" _Yeah, but there's a lot of people who do._ I _do," Anna beamed, "and our family and the whole kingdom supports you." She gave her hand a small squeeze, glad when she saw the snow of Elsa's flurry fade and blink out into nothing. "We all love you and know how much you do for all of us, so don't let_ one guy _make you feel like you have to compensate because he didn't like the food at Granny's Diner or something."_

 _She brought out a chuckle from her sister, and for as heartbreaking as it was to see her beat herself up so often, Anna was glad that she was able to be there to put a smile on her face. Standing up, she brushed off her tan breeches, smiling when Elsa followed her to do the same. "You know, I think I'm looking forward to winter."_

 _Elsa raised a brow. "What makes you say that?"_

"' _Cause it means that you'll be done with most of those meetings and negotiations for a while," Anna grinned as she waved down Kjekk to come back to her. "And then there's Christmas, and New Year's, and your birthday too!"_

" _We're_ not _doing anything big for my birthday."_

" _Oh please. We'll cast a Dark Curse to bring everyone to Arendelle if we have to."_

 _Elsa shot her sister a scared look at the crazy idea and only turned away when she was sure that Anna was joking. She focused on Magnus and the horse seemed to sense her stare, picking his head up to look at her for a moment before he trotted to her side. "Something small will do," she smiled, taking hold of the reigns and gently petting Magnus' nose._

 _The wind picked up suddenly, rippling waves in the long blades of grass and swaying tree branches into a harsh rustle. Anna sat atop Kjekk, gazing up at the darkening sky as the skittish horse beneath her shifted uneasily. She patted his neck, trying to calm him, and she looked at her sister in question when the odd weather only seemed to grow worse. "Was it supposed to storm today?"_

 _Elsa shook her head, having felt the change as soon as it happened. "No. It was perfectly calm just moments ago." She held onto Magnus' reigns tighter, growing worried as the usually sturdy horse looked around, searching for something. "We should go back."_

" _Right. Let's—"_

 _Anna couldn't finish, cut off by a loud, shrill screech that came from somewhere behind her… or above- it was somewhere, and it was close. Kjekk panicked, trying to keep calm for his rider's sake, but at the sound of a second screech he reared, throwing Anna off his back before he darted into the woods towards home._

 _Elsa watched it all in horror, letting go of Magnus' reigns and racing for her sister lying on the ground in shock. "Anna! Are you okay? Are you hurt?!"_

" _Ooh…" Anna cringed as she slowly sat up, checking to make sure that everything felt okay before she tried to get on her feet. "I'm fine, I just bumped my head a little."_

" _Now's probably not a good time to joke about helmets," Elsa said, still managing a little humor as she helped her sister up. "Come on; we can take Magnus back to the…"_

 _She paused at the sound of a frightened whinny, and strong, brave Magnus took off running in the same manner as Kjekk._

"… _castle. Huh. I guess we're walking."_

" _Elsa, run."_

" _What?" She turned quickly, briefly spotting something black racing towards her before she was pulled away in the opposite direction._

" _RUN!"_

 _Led by Anna's iron grip around her wrist, Elsa stumbled after her sister into the forest. She caught up to her pace in no time, but even as they ran side by side, Anna wouldn't let go._

 _Which was a good thing because Elsa didn't want to get separated, and she wanted to see what was chasing them without running face first into a tree. She looked back, scanning the shadowed forest for any sign of their pursuers, but she saw nothing and allowed herself the hope that the chase was already over._

 _If only she were that lucky._

 _A dark something crashed through the treetops, screeching as it flew through the air on ebon wings, reaching for her with claws and baring razor sharp teeth. Thinking fast, Elsa issued a brief order, hoping Anna would hear it before she tackled her to the ground. The monster swooped past them, chittering in anger as it missed and soared through the trees to try and make another attempt._

 _Anna recovered quickly, scrambling to her feet and pulling Elsa with her. Every time Elsa took a step, the grass crunched beneath her boots. Anna took a quick glance back to see the trail of frost that had been following her sister, and it gave her an idea. "Elsa-!"_

" _I know! Hang on to me!"_

 _Elsa darted ahead and through the thicket, holding her arm back so Anna would stay behind her and in her grasp. As they leapt over a fallen tree in their path, Elsa cast her magic with her free hand, creating a small slope of ice to start their momentum along a path she forged to hasten their getaway._

 _It was a dangerous way to navigate such a dense forest but it was the only way they had to try and escape their pursuers. Elsa glanced back only once to try and catch sight of the black-winged creature, but she met Anna's eyes instead._

" _Just focus on getting us back to Arendelle!" Anna called, looking past her to the dark woodland maze ahead. "I'll keep an eye out for the creepy thing!"_

 _With a curt nod, Elsa did just that, concentrating on finding the holes through the trees and making the path towards home. So long as she had her sister's courage, she would get them there._

 _Anna, meanwhile, kept her head on a swivel, trusting her sister's navigation so she could try and spot the danger before it got too close. It was difficult to see as the forest was darker due to the overcast sky, not to mention that the earthy colors blurred together as Elsa pulled her along the ice track. The monster blended in perfectly and could easily ambush them at any moment._

 _The relatively flat ground started giving way to a gradual slope, hastening the duo's attempt to escape. Anna knew that the grade would only get steeper and the forest would come to an end soon. After that there'd be just a short sprint across a meadow to the outer gates of Arendelle and then—_

 _She clenched her hands around Elsa's arm and turned all of her attention to the trees on her left. It was subtle, but she could see the glint of eyes staring back at her through the pine branches as the forest sped by. "Elsa, left side!"_

 _The queen took command and cast her magic up and to the left, creating a walled curve of ice that the creature smacked into as she pulled her sister through the turn. She smirked, proud of their efforts until a second creature dropped down from the treetops and hovered in their path. It screeched at an ungodly decibel, forcing Elsa to slow down to try and change course, but the momentum Anna was carrying behind her just slingshotted the younger sibling forward and out of her grasp._

 _It only took Anna a microsecond to realize what was happening and decide on a course of action. Bracing herself, she ducked beneath the monster's reach as it swiped at her and she popped up, elbowing it hard in the gut._

 _The winged creature fell to the side, incapacitated, and Anna whooped in victory, laughing as Elsa hastily caught up to her and grabbed her hand. "How's that for a team effort, huh?"_

 _Elsa nodded, but the look on her face was stern as she focused on the icy path she was creating. Gently, she pulled on Anna's hand so she was behind her again and able to watch while she navigated. "We're not out of this yet," she warned as the hill grew steeper and they sped through the forest faster. "Those things can come back any second."_

" _Yeah, but we're almost out of the woods."_

 _The elder groaned, thinking her sister was trying to be funny with puns, but the forest was quite literally coming to an end._

" _Oh thank goodness," the queen sighed as they sped out of the thicket and spotted the village at the bottom of the fjord. "We'll need to warn the guards when we get back. I can work with them to fend off the monsters if—"_

 _Her shoulders shot up to her ears as a familiar, dreadful screech sounded from the forest behind them. Anna pressed a hand to her sister's back, urging her to move faster. "Go, go, go!"_

 _Dark shadows loomed overhead and it was all Elsa could do to keep herself together as the hillside suddenly dropped into a harsh decline. Her focus scattered as the speed grew to a dangerous level, trying to concentrate on her magic, the monsters, her sister and fighting off her fear all at the same time._

" _Elsa, look out!"_

 _She barely dodged the attack in time, ducking to the side as she heard the warning, but it threw off her concentration. The stream of magic she had been projecting to control their path abruptly stopped and so, too, did the track of ice they had been sliding on. When her boots hit the rough grass it sent her tumbling, her sister falling right after, and as the world spun she only managed glimpses of the monsters approaching. She was useless to do anything until she could stop tumbling._

 _She tried digging her heels into the earth to slow, and when that didn't work she tried using her magic to possibly stick herself to the grass, but nothing worked as the hill was far too steep. All she could do was bear the pain of repeatedly colliding against the ground until, finally, the slope sharply gave way to an even meadow. Elsa rolled away, battered and winded, doing what she could to collect herself until she heard a desperate outcry of pain._

 _She shot up immediately, running staggered to the bottom of the hill where Anna lie in the grass, coiled into herself and clutching at her right ankle. The winged monsters circled overhead and one dared to swoop down to attack the fallen princess._

 _It would have been its last mistake._

 _Elsa saw it coming, judged the speed and angle at which it approached and thrust her hand forward, firing a spike of ice at it and impaling it square in the chest. The creature exploded into ash immediately, ending one threat but leaving the queen to be subjected to the other._

 _The second monster folded its wings and dropped down right on top of her, gripping her wrists with prehensile feet and holding her shoulders tightly with clawed hands. It stared at her with wide, blood red eyes and its tail flicked behind it as it screeched, deafening and managing to intimidate her for only a moment._

 _When Elsa realized she was being incapacitated by a monkey with wings, it encouraged her to fight harder. It'd be embarrassing if she lost now._

 _Thick ice grew over her forearms like protective gauntlets, but they spiked up, piercing the monkey's feet. It howled in pain and let go of her wrists, taking a brief moment to recuperate before it kicked her square in the chest, fortifying its attack with a flap of its wings. Elsa grit her teeth as she flew out of the monster's grasp, seeing the blood on its claws before she felt the searing pain in her shoulders. With three fresh scores in each arm, she struck the ground with her back and stayed there, too dazed to try and stand._

 _Anna was screaming at her, but her head was so foggy that she couldn't hear what she was saying. She turned her head, straining to make out her words when she saw something gold resting in the grass just out of her reach. Elsa's vision was blurry, but she didn't need to see clearly to know that it was her crown._

 _The flying monkey was there before she could even try to stand. It took the crown for itself and trapped Elsa's ankle in its visceral iron grip, dragging her through the grass as it beat its black wings to take flight… and to take her away from Arendelle._

 _She dug her heel into the grass to try and slow it down, buying some time for her head to clear and her vision to return. Neither happened until the monkey was airborne and she was almost hoisted off the ground. Elsa summoned her magic, ready to freeze it dead when it suddenly let go of her. The monster howled in pain, hindered by a bolt in its shoulder that bore green and purple fletching._

" _Queen Elsa! Princess Anna!" Four guards who had been standing post at the outer gate of Arendelle arrived on horseback, each with their weapons trained on the monster that was in retreat._

 _Elsa, worn, hurt and angered glared at it with cold blue eyes. "Don't let it get away!" she ordered, firing a blast of ice magic at the creature as it took flight. She missed, and one of the guards only managed to graze the primate again before it flew out of reach of both arrow and magic. The queen stepped back, watching as it carried away her crown —her protection— and only allowed herself a brief moment of remorse before she turned back to the hill._

 _Anna was lying on her stomach now; Elsa guessed that she tried to help her fight off the monsters but was in too much pain to stand and fell again. Kneeling by her side, Elsa reached for her and quickly pulled away when she saw that her hands were still covered in ice. "Anna…"_

" _We need to go after that thing!" Anna yelled, smacking the ground with her fist. "We gotta get your crown back-!"_

" _We need to go home," Elsa solemnly corrected. The order of retreat put a frown on her sister's face, but they both knew that with the injuries they sustained, they weren't capable of doing much of anything at the moment. Elsa stepped back, allowing the guards to pick up and help Anna onto one of the horses while she looked back to the hill and the forest they just came from._

 _She messed up. What was she thinking? Using her magic to speed through the forest like that and risking both her safety and her sister's? How reckless and stupid of her. It was because of her that Anna got hurt; she couldn't see it any other way. If she had just stood her ground and fought in the forest instead of running like she always did, then…_

" _Your Majesty?"_

 _Elsa turned around, unable to hide her defeated look as she faced the captain of the perimeter guard. He hesitated once he saw her up close, stilled by the sight of the spiked gauntlets on her arms and the blood shining through her torn jacket. "I-I'm sorry, we came as fast as we could—"_

 _Elsa held up a hand to silence him, managing a small smile as her ice gauntlets melted off. "I'll be okay, Captain; it's not as bad as it looks, honest. Did those creatures attack the village?" she asked, more concerned for her people now that Anna was out of danger._

 _The captain shook his head as he helped her up onto one of the horses. "No, Your Majesty. This was our first sighting of them."_

 _Elsa nodded, shivering through the sting of her wounds as the captain climbed into the saddle with her. She looked to the two guards riding next to them on her right and beckoned for their aid. "Go and tell the village patrollers to advise everyone to stay inside. We don't know if there are any more of these monsters in Arendelle."_

" _Yes, Your Majesty!"_

 _She watched as they rode off ahead, thankful for their presence, but the situation had her worried. "Those creatures had to be minions," she mused. "They were here for a purpose, but who sent them?"_

" _I think I might know."_

 _Anna's voice was small and she pursed her lips together as she looked to the other horse that carried her sister. She shifted uncomfortably from where she sat, protected in the arms of the guard sworn to keep her safe, feeling pathetic that she couldn't return to the village on her own two feet. She locked eyes with her sister, saw the worry among the blue. "And if I'm right, I think we might be in trouble."_

* * *

" _Ahh!"_

" _Your Highness! Please, I insist you stop trying to move it! I'm almost finished."_

" _Listen to him, Anna. You don't want to make it worse."_

 _With a grunt, Princess Anna threw herself back on her bed, squeezing her eyes shut to block out the pain as the doctor tried to continue his work in peace._

 _The peaceful castle had turned into a madhouse once the guards brought back the injured royal siblings. Maids and butlers swarmed the sisters as one was carried inside and the other walked in paler than usual, asking what they could do to help, offering food and water in between worried questions. It was by Elsa's commanding insistence that they all dispersed, requesting that only the doctor attend to the sisters in Anna's room._

 _Now the princess lie in her bed in agony, her right pant leg rolled up past her knee as the doctor tended to her foot. The queen, meanwhile, watched supportively as she straddled a nearby chair. It was for modesty's sake that she sat in the masculine and prudish posture, as she had to rid herself of her riding jacket and shirt to get at the deep scratches on her shoulders; she was embarrassed just to be seen in her camisole._

 _She hugged the back of the chair, a question on her lips that neither had dared to ask since the doctor came in. But she saw the swelling, the bruises, and her little sister was obviously in pain. "…Is it bad?"_

 _Their doctor, an older man just beginning to gray, sat back on a stool as he finished wrapping a bandage around Anna's foot. "It's a moderate sprain," he said seriously, standing and taking a towel from a stack on the vanity. He handed it to Elsa. "It will be uncomfortable for a while, but it's treatable. I'll rewrap the bandage every morning, and keeping ice on it for several hours a day will help reduce the swelling."_

 _Elsa took that as her cue and she conjured her magic, making several handfuls of ice cubes and placing them in the towel she was given. She tied up the corners as the doctor stacked several pillows under Anna's leg, keeping her ankle elevated. "Keep your leg up any time you sit or lie down," he said, taking the bundle of ice from the queen and pressing it to his patient's ankle. "I'll get some crutches for you as well so you don't put pressure on the injury. Following these methods, you should be healed in about six to eight weeks."_

" _Six to eight weeks?!" Anna repeated, sitting up sharply…_ too _sharply. The motion aggravated her ankle and she lie back down, covering her eyes with her arm. "What am I gonna do? I can't stay still for that long!"_

" _You risk injuring yourself further if you don't take the time to rest, young lady," the doctor warned. Anna pouted at him as he moved the stool from her bedside over to Elsa's chair. As he went to the vanity to prepare what was needed to treat the queen, Anna couldn't tear her eyes from Elsa's._

 _She looked so sad. Anna thought she'd be angry about getting attacked, but even if she was, it was overshadowed by her wide blue eyes and haunted frown._

" _Anna, I'm so sorry."_

 _Anna sat up, slower this time, and cocked her head to the side. "About what?"_

 _Elsa looked down, hugging the back of the chair tighter. She almost looked ready to cry. "It's because of me that you got hurt. It was a dumb idea to skate through the forest; I know that path, I knew about the grade of that decline and how dangerous it was. I should have stopped to fight those things, but instead I ran and now you're injured—"_

" _Elsa, wait—"_

" _I didn't protect you."_

" _Yes you did! Stop for a second and listen to yourself!" Anna begged. She caught her sister's attention, thankful that the doctor was keeping busy for the moment. "_ I'm _the one who told you to start running when those monkeys started chasing us. It's my fault too, okay?"_

" _But—"_

" _And if we stayed in that forest to try and fight them, we'd be worse off than we are now," she admitted. "I didn't have my sword. We couldn't see where they were coming from and they could've ambushed us. I mean, one of them alone almost carried you away until the guards shot it. I'd be afraid if both of them got you."_

 _Elsa nodded gravely, trying to shake off her own self-doubt and focus on the positive outcome that Anna was trying to get her to see. They were alive, injured perhaps, but they were home and safe for the moment. She watched as the doctor sat down with a bottle of something and a cotton ball. "That monkey took my crown," Elsa bitterly spat, drawing the confused attention of the doctor as she tried to keep her mind off of what was in the bottle he held._

" _Maybe it likes shiny things?" Anna suggested, already feeling for her sister as the doctor soaked the cotton with medicine. "It seemed pretty focused on getting you though."_

 _As Elsa thought back to the flight through the forest, she eyed the cotton ball as it was brought closer to her wounds. "Wait," she cringed. She silently reached for a towel on the vanity and the doctor handed it to her. "Anna, you said that you might know who sent the monkeys after us. Who do you think it is?" she asked as she wrapped her hands tightly in the towel. She nodded to the doctor and braced herself, hugging the back of her chair and resting her chin on it._

" _It might be a long shot… but…"_

" _It's better than… better than nothing," Elsa hissed as the doctor pressed the medicine into her wounds. Anna never took her sights off her, giving her the same support and becoming quite impressed as Elsa tried to apply "conceal, don't feel" to the situation. She'd wondered the purpose of the towel until she saw blue frost creeping out the sides and was saddened that Elsa had thought of the precaution before she felt the pain._

 _She cleared her throat, ready to make her claim. "I think it might be the Wicked Witch of the West."_

"… _What?"_

" _You know, the Wicked Witch!" exclaimed Anna, wondering if Elsa's lack of support of the idea was due to her pain or because the idea seemed incredibly ridiculous. "She had an army of scary, evil flying monkeys and used them to attack Dorothy and her friends—"_

" _Who?"_

 _Anna blinked, confused by Elsa's confusion. "The Wizard of Oz, Elsa. It's a movie, or at least it is over in the Land Without Magic. Didn't you ever see it when we were in Storybrooke?"_

 _Innocently, Elsa shook her head._

" _You didn't even read the_ book? _"_

 _Again, the queen was puzzled._

"… _What were you even doing in those twenty-eight years?"_

" _Painting," Elsa sharply reminded as the doctor pressed medicine into another scratch. "Because_ somebody _wouldn't get a job."_

" _Yeah, but it's a_ book _. You like books."_

" _I didn't get out much."_

" _Elsa, it's a cultural phenomenon."_

" _I'm a shut-in in two worlds and all we had was a radio. Nobody ever mentioned it so I never knew about it. Stop laughing."_

 _The giggles couldn't be helped. In both Storybrooke and Arendelle, Elsa's work came first. Of course she didn't know about "The Wizard of Oz." It was actually pretty typical of Elsa to know a whole lot about a wide range of topics but be completely oblivious to the one thing everyone else knew._

 _But it was okay. For the moment, Anna couldn't move and Elsa was a captive audience until her wounds had been treated. "I'll start from the very beginning," Anna smiled, grinning wider as Elsa settled in her chair and even the doctor seemed interested in the tale._

 _Getting injured and finding a new threat to the kingdom wasn't exactly what Anna had planned for her sister's afternoon off; story time with their doctor toting a bottle of antiseptic wasn't either. As Anna started the tale with her usual enthusiasm, she couldn't help but wonder if her suspicions were right. She honestly hoped she was wrong; her sister had enough to deal with already, and getting into a witch fight was the last thing she needed right now._


	6. Wicked

There were many things Kristoff loved about Anna. She was fearless, unafraid to try anything at least once, and the way she stayed optimistic in face of adversity was something he admired about her. She could make the most boring activities fun and could have a lengthy conversation about almost anything with anyone. Her heart was pure and her love was her strength, and these things made Kristoff feel warm and comforted whenever he was by her side.

So it worried him when she fell silent on their way out of town. She had been rambling about her visit with the mayor and sheriff all the way down Main Street, but as soon as they came to the old toll bridge just outside Storybrooke proper, she stopped. Kristoff noticed it when the only thing he heard for a solid five minutes was the sound of their shoes crunching through the snow.

He squeezed her hand. "Anna, are you okay?"

She managed a small smile and tore her focus away from the enchanted glove they were following. "I… I guess I'm nervous," she admitted as she looked up at him. She tucked a loose strand of hair behind her right ear as she returned her sights to the snow-covered road ahead. "I mean, what if Regina's right? What if we find Elsa and she's… well, not okay? I really didn't think she'd be out this far."

Honestly, Kristoff didn't either. The glove was taking them through the woods and past the road that led to his cabin and the ranch. There were many other paths that led deeper into the large expanse of forest, but the glove seemed set on making a straight course to the town line.

Anna knew it too. She allowed herself the hope that maybe the glove would suddenly turn and lead them to a cave or somewhere else nearby, but with every side road they passed, her fear continued to grow. It wasn't long until the town line came into view around the bend, marked by orange flags on either side of the road so travelers could find it in the snow and stay away.

The glove kept tumbling towards it and Anna hesitated to follow any further. Ruby had tracked her sister here before and lost the scent at the line; Anna was almost sure now that the glove would stop just short of it or cross it and fall, signifying that Elsa was lost somewhere in Maine or in another state entirely. "Kristoff…"

It was disheartening to see Anna losing faith, and troubling to watch the glove stay on the path out of town. Kristoff wanted to tell her that if Elsa was on the other side of the line then they would cross it too, but he knew it'd be a foolish suggestion. They'd pass over the boundary and forget they were even looking for Elsa to begin with, and who knows what would happen to them after? "Hey, don't give up just yet," he said, giving her hand another soft squeeze. "This isn't over."

Anna nodded, but still kept her distance from the glove as she followed it, wanting to stay away from the town line lest she fall over it again. But as the glove approached the line it slowed, and then completely stopped. It hovered in mid-air for several long moments, testing the patience of its pursuers before it suddenly dove into the forest and forced them to give chase.

Anna caught up to it first, finding it tumbling down a worn dirt trail that was hidden from the main road by overgrown trees and foliage. Her eyes went wide and she smiled, hope renewed as the long path ahead promised to lead somewhere the glove would likely stop. "Kristoff, come on!" she called, waving at him to catch up.

He wandered after her slowly, looking around to the trees that shaded the uneven path and the nearby rocks that served as trail markers. It was hard to tell with splotches of snow covering most of the identifying plants, but Kristoff was sure that he had been down this road once before.

It didn't make sense. Of all places, why would Elsa go back _there?_

* * *

 _One week had passed since the Queen's frightening venture through the woods of her homeland. One week and not another sign from those screeching, flying monstrosities that drew her blood, stole her crown, and forced the accident that caused her sister to be mostly bedridden. In what spare time she had between her duties as the monarch of Arendelle, Elsa's mind flew back to the event, ruminating over what had happened and what could have been had she acted differently._

 _She closed her eyes and leaned back against the large window in her bedroom, not focused at all on what she had been doing moments before. Her mind was running in circles, skipping from the woods to the council chambers where she had been earlier that day and to the little bundle of snow that sat in her lap._

 _Olaf was fixated on the book Elsa held in her hands, but when the dramatic pause she took in the story lingered for too long, he stared up at her, briefly glancing at the shine and pulse of a heart that only he could see. "Elsa? What's wrong?"_

 _She opened her eyes slowly at the touch of wooden fingers on her wrist. There was just so much on her mind that the little snowman couldn't understand._

 _Her kingdom was on watch for signs of an attack from whoever sent the flying monkeys. Some of the villagers had been scared by the sight of their queen and princess riding through the gates bloodied and battered, but they were comforted knowing that the creatures could be fought off. To celebrate the near victory, and to keep their minds off the danger, the villagers were adamant on hosting the annual harvest festival today and were eagerly planning Arendelle's first Halloween._

 _The celebrations had been a welcome distraction for Elsa until this morning. At the council meeting, she had been informed that winter had come early to the Southern Isles and King Servi blamed her for the sudden snowstorm. She knew it was impossible for her magic to reach out that far and target a specific place without her being present, and yet… with all the recent happenings and her own swirling emotions, she could have believed their claim if given enough evidence._

" _Elsa?"_

" _I'm fine," she said quickly. If she were talking to Anna she'd be called out on the lie immediately. "I'm just thinking. Sorry, Olaf."_

" _You've been really busy," he noticed, and Elsa nodded, exhaustion clear in the simple motion. "Hey! I know! Why don't you, me, Anna, Kristoff and Sven take a boat ride down the fjord one day? I'd like to see the waterfalls again!"_

 _Her smile was small and pained as she put a mark in the book she had been reading and closed it. She set it off to the side of the bench where they were sitting. "Maybe we can go in spring?" she shrugged, knowing that these last weeks before winter would be spent making sure all of Arendelle's alliances were left in good standing before the trade routes froze over. Not to mention, she still had the situation with the Southern Isles to deal with. "Besides, aren't you looking forward to Halloween? Do you have a costume yet?"_

" _Oh, I_ love _Halloween!" Olaf cheered. He jumped out of Elsa's lap, letting her stand and following her as she walked across the room. "I was gonna be a ghost, but then Anna came up with a great idea! Sven, Kristoff and I are going as the Headless Horseman!"_

 _Elsa giggled to herself as she exited her bedroom and walked with Olaf down the hall, listening to him explain how Kristoff would be riding with Sven and carrying his head around, though she worried about it being cool enough outside for Olaf to go without his flurry._

" _What are you going to be for Halloween, Elsa?"_

 _The question caught her off-guard and she stopped walking, struck still in the sight of her own reflection in the axe of a suit of armor. She swallowed hard as she looked at herself, thought of the recent mistakes she had made, how the Southern Isles blamed her for the Dark Curse and their first snowfall, and how she started to blame herself, too. The sharp edge of the weapon seemed like a premonition of her perilous fate._

"… _A witch…" she whispered._

 _Olaf squinted, shaking his head. "I'm sorry, I couldn't hear you."_

" _A… w-which way are you headed?" she fumbled, looking to the staircase ahead of them. Olaf gasped and he ran towards it, turning to walk backwards and wave at her._

" _I gotta go talk to Kristoff about our costume! I'll see you at the festivaaa- whoa!"_

 _Her eyes went wide and she rushed to the staircase as Olaf tripped over the first step and fell, the segments of his body separating and bouncing harmlessly down the flights until everything came to a rest at the very bottom. He laughed as he reassembled himself and adjusted his crooked carrot nose. "I'm okay!"_

 _Elsa sighed, thankful for the first time since she left Storybrooke that Olaf didn't retain his human form; despite being made of snow, he was far less fragile this way. She waved to him as he trotted towards the front doors of the castle, smiling before turning on her way down the hall towards Anna's room._

 _According to Gerda, Anna had tried to make numerous escape attempts from her room before the doctor could fit her with crutches. She refused to ask for help, so it was almost a daily routine for someone to knock on the door of Elsa's study and tell the queen that her sister was found lying face first on her bedroom floor._

 _Though Elsa had to give her sister credit: After the doctor gave Anna the crutches, she still tried to forego them. Just three days ago she made it to the grandfather clock before she collapsed in pain. She was determined, that's for sure._

 _Elsa, meanwhile, was recovering from her injuries well as she followed the doctor's orders. The deeper parts of the scratches had healed, but on the surface, her skin was bruised and the scabs were unsightly. She wore a recreation of her coronation dress for now, utilizing the black sleeves to hide her bandaged wounds._

 _As she approached the doors to Anna's room, she didn't hesitate to knock or call out to her younger sibling. "Anna? Are you ready?"_

" _Yeah. Be right there."_

 _Elsa stood back, listening to the movement on the other side of the doors. She cringed when something clattered to the floor. "Do you need help?"_

" _No, no, I got it…"_

"… _Are you sure?"_

" _For Pete's sake, Elsa! It's not like I can't move!"_

" _You just sound like you're struggling," Elsa teased, smiling when the racket inside the room stopped._

"… _I swear I'm gonna trip you when we get down there."_

 _Spinning away from the door, Elsa held her hands behind her back as she stifled her giggles. No matter how bad she felt, she could always count on Anna to make her laugh. After a few more moments, she heard a solid thump against the floor of the room, and then another._

 _The white doors painted with warm rosemaling opened. Anna stood there, looking at Elsa with ire, balancing comfortably on one leg with a pair of crutches supporting her beneath her arms. "You stinker."_

" _What did I do?" Elsa asked innocently, closing the doors to her sister's room as Anna took off down the hall._

" _You put up an_ ice wall _in front of the staircase yesterday!"_

" _Because you almost tripped down them the day before!"_

" _Only because you wouldn't go down the spiral staircase when you took me on a bike ride the day before that!"_

 _Elsa rolled her eyes. "Anna. You're injured. You need to do what the doctor says, otherwise you could make it worse." She paused as Anna grumbled to herself and she eyed the staircase ahead where Olaf had fallen just minutes ago. "Are you sure you want to sit with me? You don't have to if you don't want to."_

 _Shaking her braided head, Anna tackled the first step down with Elsa at her side. "I'm going crazy just sitting in my room," she admitted, carefully judging and taking the next step. "Besides, it's the harvest festival! I can't even remember the last time we actually went to one."_

 _The queen nodded, ever aware that they were both children when they attended the festival last. It was a village-wide celebration of the end of the harvesting season, and while the yield was smaller this year, it allowed the kingdom a chance to relax and have fun after restoring their home from a twenty-nine-year long curse. A visit to the castle to meet with the royal siblings and indulge in the buffet in the courtyard was on everyone's to-do list, but as the day wore on, Elsa and Anna planned to go out into the village to enjoy the festivities there as well._

 _It was a slow and steady descent down the central staircase, but Anna made it without as much as a wobble. Together with her sister, she made her way to a side entrance to the Great Hall. They stopped for a moment to make sure the other looked presentable, and then Elsa entered first, holding the door open so Anna could follow._

 _The hall was lined with servants who chatted amongst themselves, hushing as soon as Elsa and Anna walked in. Elsa nodded to them, silently thanking them for their hard work, but as she moved she caught the mischievous look of her sister's eye. They both looked down to the crutches the youngest was using and Elsa gave her a wide berth, grinning as she hurried to the throne before Anna could make good on her promise._

 _Kai gave them an odd look as they situated themselves, Elsa sitting in the throne and Anna in an elaborate chair beside her. They tried to stifle their giggles and Anna leaned over towards the throne, whispering so no one else would hear. "I wasn't really gonna trip you, you know."_

" _Anna, the day you start making false threats for mischief is the day I start to seriously worry about you."_

 _The sisters cringed when they heard Kai loudly clear his throat, and they looked up at him innocently like they had been caught stealing chocolate from the kitchens again. He looked down his nose at them, urging them to compose themselves, and he raised a brow at Elsa. "Your orders, Ma'am?"_

 _Elsa sat up in the throne and straightened out the folds of her dress, looking to the maids and butlers who awaited her word. Despite how tense she felt and how stressed she had been over the last several months, these people had been there at her side to support her. Even now, as they knew of the rocky relations with the Southern Isles, the staff smiled to her as though nothing was bothering them._

 _She smirked as she looked them each in the eyes. "Tell the guards to open the gates," she ordered. "Let the harvest festival begin!"_

* * *

Anna had never been so thankful for a hidden dirt road in her life. Sure, it was a little slushy right now with the snow, but it was a lot more hopeful than the straight shot out of town they had been heading towards. This was much, _much_ more encouraging, though she had to wonder what her sister was doing out in the middle of the woods.

If she knew her sister like she thought she did, then Elsa was hiding. To protect herself and to protect others from her magic, Elsa would stay as far away from Storybrooke as she could if something was wrong. The fact that she didn't cross the town line made Anna think that Elsa was silently reaching out for help, but why she would leave her cellphone and shoes at home was another mystery. She clearly remembered her having both before Regina's magic supposedly returned them to Arendelle.

She sighed, happy that the glove wasn't stopping, but still nervous about what Elsa's state would be when they found her. "I feel like we've been walking forever," she grumbled, impatient to get to their destination. "What's at the end of this road, anyway?"

Kristoff scratched at the stubble on his jaw as he looked up in thought. "Honestly, I've never seen the place for myself. I've only been about halfway up this road and around in the forest, but Elsa's been on the other side before."

Anna blinked, surprised. "Wow, really? I mean, I know we grew up in the mountains, but she never struck me as the outdoorsy, "I'm-gonna-explore-the-forest" type."

"Well, she only did it because she was looking for ingredients for the memory potion," he said, sharing Anna's smile at Elsa's previous determination to help her little sister. "She said there was a wide open area with an abandoned barn. I think she said something about a farmhouse nearby, too. Beyond that, it's all forest."

He laughed suddenly when he spotted something up ahead, catching Anna's attention. He pointed to an oak tree on the right side of the road. The snow covered branches looked like an artist's masterpiece, but to Anna, it looked like a perfect, natural jungle gym. "Did you know that Elsa could climb trees?" Kristoff asked her.

"Well, duh! She taught me how when we were kids!"

Kristoff grinned as they approached it. "It surprised the heck out of me when _I_ found out! We needed bark from the tallest branch of an oak for the potion. As soon as I told her that, she zipped straight up there," he said, pointing to the top of the tree.

Anna whistled as she leaned back, spotting the tallest safe foothold through the glistening branches. "Wow. I woulda thought she'd make an ice ladder or a pillar-elevator thingy."

Kristoff laughed sheepishly, glancing up at the memory. "I said the same thing to her once she came down and she smashed a snowball in my face."

"That just means she likes you." Anna grinned and stretched her arms to the sky, reminiscing the numerous times Elsa so lovingly got revenge on her little sister with fistfuls of snow. She put her hands behind her head and looked to the path that lie before them. "Man, if I knew Elsa hiked this far out, I would have grabbed a bag of trail mix or something. How long till we—"

She paused, stilled when she heard something crashing through the treetops. She whirled to face the noise but found nothing but broken twigs and snow falling through the canopy above. Unsure what to do, she backed towards Kristoff and tried to swallow her racing heart. "What was that?"

Alert, Kristoff slowly stepped forward, motioning Anna to stay silent and still as he scanned the surrounding forest. A bird couldn't have made that much noise, nor could a squirrel or any other rodent that made their home in the woodlands. He would have guessed that maybe a few branches broke under the weight of the snow, but there was hardly a foot of fresh powder on the ground; only twigs broke under that much weight. Unless Storybrooke deer could suddenly fly, something else had to have made the noise, but what?

Nothing moved as they watched, save for the snowfall and their warm breath coming as wisps in the cold air. Everything was silent until a high-pitched, deafening screech pierced the forest and sent Kristoff and Anna scrambling down the path the way they came.

Anna glanced back only once, hopelessly watching the glove drift onward towards her sister as she fled in retreat. Kristoff gripped her arm and pulled her with him, beckoning her to forget about the glove for now and just run to safety. "What is it?!" she asked, panicked but not unconfident that the two of them could handle the situation. "Did you see something?"

"I just got a glance," Kristoff huffed, his eyes focused on the surrounding forest as he listened for clues to where their pursuer might be. "It's something dark… not human…"

"Dangerous?"

He heard the rustle of branches from the forest on his right and peered closer at the shaking leaves of a bush. Piercing red eyes stared back at him, following him as he ran. "I'd say it's pretty unfriendly."

Without warning, the creature burst out of the shrubbery, lunging at Kristoff. He twisted to dodge the attack and locked eyes with the monster as it soared past him. One of its claws barely caught the sleeve of his jacket, making a clear cut in the fabric that could have been his arm if he hadn't moved quickly enough. As the monster landed, Kristoff took action before it could recover and punted it back into the forest, watching it strike a tree before he ran to catch up with Anna.

"Do we have anything we can fight it off with?!" she asked, looking back to see if the creature was recovering while she searched the forest for a rock or something sturdy to defend herself. When Kristoff didn't respond, she thought he was coming up with some woodsman-like solution to trap the creature using bait and classic ingenuity.

Instead she found him checking the tools of his Swiss Army knife.

"There's a blade here somewhere—"

"Well I hope you find it because I don't think a _corkscrew_ is going to help much!"

Another screech prepared the duo for a second attack and they turned as the creature… the _flying monkey_ took to the air and dove after them, its sights now aimed at Anna. She ducked into the forest, hoping to find cover somewhere or locate a proper weapon, though she really didn't have to do either. Kristoff, having found the actual knife at last, tackled the monkey out of the air and slammed it to the ground, sticking it in the side with the blade.

It howled and lashed at him with its claws, grabbing hold of his muscular shoulders and pulling him down to his knees with unusual strength for its size. Kristoff tried to escape its grasp, standing to try and tear himself away, but the monkey stayed attached, snapping its fanged maw dangerously close to his neck.

With a strong push, he pried off one of its paws, but the winged creature viciously retaliated and sunk its fangs into his upper left arm. Kristoff grunted in pain, sticking the knife in the monkey's backside before resorting to grabbing it by the scruff of its furry neck. It wouldn't let go, and he desperately searched for something to get it off when his eyes fell upon the forest and a certain red-headed spitfire.

She hefted a log high over her head, holding it there with little effort as she carefully took aim. "Let go of my Kristoff, you creep!"

With all her might, Anna smashed the log down on top of the monster's head, knocking it out cold. Kristoff pushed it off and Anna set the log down on its tail, hoping the weight would at least slow it down while they made their getaway. With the monkey taken care of for now, she went to Kristoff's side and fell with him when he collapsed to his knees.

"I'm fine, Anna," he said, forcing a smile for her sake, but the bite felt like it was burning through his flesh. He clenched his hand as the pain coursed down his arm and spread through his shoulder, searing each and every nerve along the way.

Anna disagreed with his assessment immediately. He was a strong, healthy young man; it took a lot to bring him to his knees and he was there, fighting off the results from the vicious attack. "You're bleeding a lot," she whispered, horrified by the amount seeping through his jacket. "We have to get you to the hospital."

"No, no… it's okay." His protests went ignored as the small woman put his good arm around her shoulders and held onto his side when he finally got to his feet. They slowly started walking back the way they had been running, back to the main road that led to town, and Kristoff tried to prove his health by foregoing Anna's aid. "See? I'm fine, like I told you."

His foot caught on a stone and he stumbled, thankfully caught by Anna before he crashed to the ground. She cringed, worried for him as he leaned on her heavier now, requiring her support rather than just simply having it. As carefully as she could, she reached for the phone in her pocket and dialed the emergency number, briefly glancing behind them to see the state of their pursuer.

"I've got you," she said, pressing a kiss to Kristoff's cheek when she saw the twitch of one of the monkey's wings. "We're going to be okay, I promise."

* * *

 _Elsa and Anna couldn't ask for a more pleasant afternoon. The castle was a flurry of activity with their staff moving to and fro, bringing hot dishes out to the buffet in the courtyard and checking in on the siblings every now and again. It was rare that the two spent a moment without being in conversation with a guest, and it was a thrill to both to see their people enjoying themselves. From the curse and the recent monkey attack, everyone needed the break._

 _It wasn't until the day started to wear into the evening that the doors to the Great Hall were closed, giving Anna and Elsa some time to rest before they went out to enjoy the festivities in the village. Elsa broke her proper posture for the first time in hours and leaned back into the throne, sharing an accomplished grin with Anna that was quickly skewed by her curiosity. "I'm sorry, but something's been bothering me since we got here. Why is there a bucket of water behind your chair?"_

 _Surprised, Anna twisted in her seat and looked behind her chair, spotting the metal bucket for herself. "Oh, I didn't even notice it! Thanks, Kai!" she said, waving to her caretaker. The man sniffed and shook his head, seemingly unsure why the princess requested such a thing. "So, you remember when I was talking to you about the Wicked Witch, right?"_

" _Not this again…" Elsa sighed, pressing her fingers to her forehead. "Anna, that was just a story."_

" _Yeah? Well we are too, Snow Queen," Anna teased, poking her in the ribs. Elsa glared and Anna stared back, mimicking her clenched jaw and cold eyes as best she could. "Hey, we got our butts kicked by flying monkeys last week. Can you blame me for wanting to be prepared in case a witch walks in here?"_

" _Somehow I don't think water would actually help."_

" _Well, just freeze it and I'll knock her out with it or something."_

 _Elsa shook her head, only turning away from her sister's cheeky grin when she heard the doors at the end of the hall open with a loud bang. She looked to them with irritation, wondering who would have the gall to barge into her throne room during her brief respite. When she saw it was Kristoff and Olaf riding Sven through the hall, she stood from her seat to protest their rude antics until she saw the worry on all three of their faces. Four guards followed behind them, leading a long line of panicked villagers who all looked to their queen and princess for aid._

 _Elsa felt her heart beating faster as the Great Hall started to fill and turn to chaos. "Kristoff, what's happening?" she asked. Sven tried to answer for him, huffing and grunting as he nodded to the villagers around them. He only stopped and seemed to calm when Anna got up on her crutches and started to pet his neck._

" _You know those monsters that attacked you last week? They're back," Kristoff grimly stated. He slid off Sven's back and walked up the few steps to the throne. "And they brought their friends. Elsa, there's a whole mess of those things flying around out there."_

" _How many?"_

" _Two dozen at least."_

 _Two dozen flying monkeys with fangs and razor-sharp claws terrorizing her people. Elsa felt the sting of her wounds as she looked to the villagers who sought shelter in her home. Many were out of breath, others were yelling while more were overcome with frightened tears. This was supposed to be such a happy day and now Arendelle was in danger once more._

 _Elsa wouldn't stand for it. "Kai, gather the staff and put out food, water and blankets for the villagers," she calmly ordered, though she was shaking inside. "Get the doctor out here to tend to any wounded we may have." She sent him off with a small, thankful smile, and then turned to the four guards who followed Kristoff inside. "Any villagers still in the courtyard or on the bridge are to be welcomed in the Great Hall for refuge until this siege is over. Send word to the rest of the village to open their doors to anyone still out on the streets; their safety is our top priority right now."_

" _Yes, Your Majesty!"_

 _Elsa took a deep breath and shuddered it out as she watched them leave. Her heart felt heavy with the situation, and even Anna's supportive touch on her shoulder couldn't erase the feeling that this was somehow her fault. "You're doing everything you can," Anna said, reading her mind through her tense body language. "Let them do their jobs. We have to take care of everyone here."_

 _It pained them both that they weren't able to do much more with their injuries; they could only stand and try to calm their people, lest they cause themselves further damage and scare everyone more. Several minutes after Elsa ordered her guards to take action, a new swarm of villagers rushed into the Great Hall, just as panicked and frightened as the last. Guilt threatened to overwhelm the young queen as she stood there, staring into the eyes of so many people who relied on her, who were counting on her to keep them safe and resolve the situation._

 _She found herself lost in the sight of the crowd and was only snapped out of it as the sea of people temporarily split down the middle. A redheaded woman dressed in black stumbled to the steps in tears. "Your Majesty…! Your Majesty, please help me!" she begged. "I was hiding in the courtyard chapel with a group of others; those monsters have it surrounded! I managed to escape, but everyone else is still in there!"_

 _Elsa took a step back and bypassed her sister's worried gaze as she looked for another guard to help. The woman shook her head, trying to relay the urgency of the situation._

" _Your Majesty, please! There are_ children _in there!"_

 _No one in the church could brave the courtyard alone and the children wouldn't stand a chance. Her present guards had to defend everyone in the Great Hall; they couldn't leave. Elsa couldn't stand idle any longer; she had to do_ something.

 _So when she hiked up her skirts and ran down the short steps of the platform, she did so at the protest of her family. "Elsa, wait!" Anna cried, knocking one of her crutches to the floor as she reached out for her sister. Kristoff caught her before she fell and watched as Elsa started to follow the redheaded woman._

 _Elsa turned back once and stared him straight in the eyes. "Keep her safe," she said, glancing at Anna. "That's an order." She smiled in relief when Kristoff nodded and she turned away from her family, finding a clear path to the doors as the villagers parted to let her through._

 _The wall of people on either side of her could have been a simple wall of nothing as Elsa blocked out their cheers and followed the red-haired woman out of the hall. Truth be told, if she had the time to stop and think, she would have realized that she was scared. She hated fighting, and just a week ago she barely escaped the fury of two of those winged creatures. Now she had to face two_ dozen?

 _As soon as they stepped outside, Elsa felt like she was entering a battle. Arrows soared across the amber sky as three flying monkeys loomed over the courtyard, screeching and baring their fangs as they dodged attempts on their life. Another monster crawled on the roof of the chapel, scratching at the shingles for a way inside. Elsa and the black-clad woman waited until all four were distracted and then made a mad dash for the front door of the church._

 _Halfway there, a chilling screech sounded behind them and the woman looked back, terrified by the monster that they had undoubtedly drawn the attention of. Elsa pushed her forward, urging her to get to the church, and she pivoted on her heel, coming face to face with the wicked monstrosity with beady red eyes. It closed the distance quickly, but she anticipated the attack and countered before it could touch her. A blast of ice magic struck the monkey square in the chest and it exploded into a cloud of ash._

" _Come on, hurry!" yelled the red haired woman. She stood in the doorway of the church and held the door open, waiting until Elsa got inside before she closed it behind her. Elsa took a moment to gather herself as she looked around the sacred place, thankful that the monsters hadn't made it inside yet. The other woman walked past her, pointing to the altar at the end of the aisle. "The others were hiding behind there when I left them," she said, slowing her pace as Elsa ran ahead._

 _Elsa looked up at the ceiling, distracted by the sound of the monkey scratching at the shingles to realize just how quiet it really was inside the church. Approaching the altar, she walked to the side and placed one hand on it, smiling softly to give her frightened people a friendly face to look up to._

 _But when she rounded the corner of the sacred table and looked down, she reeled back with a harsh gasp and promptly froze her hand to the altar. There were no people or children in need of rescue, just a single bronze urn that had haunted her since Storybrooke._

" _Well, that was easier than I expected."_

 _Elsa spun around, facing the red-haired woman as much as she could while holding her free hand out at her. Her eyes narrowed and she grit her teeth; this was a trap. She didn't recognize her and only realized then that they'd never met before, not in Arendelle or Storybrooke. "Who are you?" Elsa demanded to know, trying to stall and calm herself enough to wrest her arm free from her own troublesome magic._

 _The woman's ruby lips drew into a familiar evil smirk. "My name is Zelena," she said, curtsying as she made her introduction to the queen. "I apologize for not introducing myself earlier, Your Majesty, but…" She flicked her wrist, creating a green cloud of smoke that dissipated seconds later to reveal the urn in her palm. "I think it would be better not to have an audience for this. Don't you agree?"_

 _Glancing behind the altar to see that the urn was truly gone, Elsa gave a desperate tug at the ice on her arm while Zelena laughed at her struggle. "So the rumors_ are _true!" she chuckled. "You're so powerful that you can't even control it. What a shame… I was hoping this would be more interesting. You've just made it so much easier for me," Zelena smiled, eyes glinting as she stepped forward with the urn._

 _Elsa shrunk back, forgoing her efforts to free herself as the ice crept up to her elbow now. She focused on her enemy as she was stalked like prey, spotting an odd splotch of green on Zelena's neck that seemed to be encroaching to the rest of her otherwise fair skin. "Stay back!" Elsa begged, pressing her free hand forward, about to lash out with her magic until Zelena held up the urn._

 _Just the sight of it made her skin crawl. It made her fingers twitch and twisted her stomach into such a knot she thought she was going to be sick. She stared at it, frightened that if she made a move against Zelena, she'd be subjected to whatever horrors lie within that bronze vessel. Closing her eyes, Elsa tried to recompose herself before she looked up at Zelena again. "What do you want?" she asked, failing to hide the fear in her voice. "Why have you come here?"_

" _It's simple, really. I came here to get rid of you." Zelena chuckled at Elsa's horrified expression, relishing in the moment as much as she accepted her skin turning green. "According to the people of this realm, you're a very powerful sorceress who even had the Dark One taking precautions against you. My sister was jealous of your power, my mother wanted to use it for herself, but me? Well…" She looked down at the urn, missing Elsa's confused stare as she stroked the curved bronze. "I never quite liked the snow. Too…_ radiant _, I'm sure you understand," she smiled. "Besides, that pure-hearted nature of yours will get in my way eventually. Better to snuff it out now than have to deal with it later."_

 _There was no way out of this. Elsa could fight one-handed, yes, but she couldn't move. Zelena had magic and the urn; if Elsa could stop the spells the witch threw her way, whatever the urn contained would certainly get her._

" _Nobody has to get hurt here," Zelena said softly, undoubtedly seeing the worry in Elsa's eyes. She walked up to her, standing on the steps to the platform with the altar. Her eyes were bright and her smile grew sickeningly sweet. "Since you_ are _the queen and all, we have options for you! You can subject yourself to the urn, or…" she flicked her wrist, conjuring Elsa's crown in a cloud of green smoke. "…You can walk out of here heartless."_

 _Elsa swallowed past the lump in her throat and cursed under her breath as she looked at Zelena. Green skin, black clothing…_ magic _. The flying monkeys didn't target her in the courtyard, and only the one went after Elsa like a sacrificial pawn. She eyed the crown that had been stolen from her a week prior, knowing exactly who this woman was. "You're evil," she hissed, glaring up at the witch._

" _No, dear. I'm_ wicked _."_

 _The church fell silent, echoing nothing now but the sound of ice as it crackled across the altar's surface. Zelena cocked her head to the side, amused how Elsa's hateful glare weakened when her choices were presented to her once more. "So how would you like to leave your kingdom, Your Majesty?"_

" _She isn't going anywhere!"_

 _Both women stilled at the newcomer's declaration. Sneering, Zelena glanced over her shoulder at the intrusion while Elsa looked past her in horror._

 _Anna stood defiantly at the entrance to the church, crutches and all. "I know who you are, witch!" she declared boldly, her bravery not at all hindered by her injured ankle. "Call off the monkeys and fly back to Oz before… oh,_ wow. _" She winced when Zelena put the crown in a pocket of her cloak and turned fully to face her. "What is_ wrong _with your_ skin _?!"_

 _The Wicked Witch sniffed, brushing off Anna's comment as though it were nothing. With a small intrigued smile, she descended the platform, giving Elsa the opportunity to try and free herself while her aggressor's back was turned. "That's some bravado for a_ cripple _," Zelena chuckled, walking down the aisle with the urn tucked in the crook of her arm. "How_ noble _of you. The half-pint princess coming to save her powerful sister. It's really cute." She smiled wide, batting her eyes… and then frowned, gritting her teeth and taking a daring step forward. "It makes me sick!"_

" _Yeah, you look like it," Anna joked, leaning more on her crutches. "You know, I think they make ointments for that. Have you been to a dermatologist?"_

 _Her antagonistic prodding literally ignited Zelena's rage; a ball of flame hovered above her free hand, seeming to grow larger the longer Anna stared at it._

" _Uh, I can recommend a good doctor?" she said sheepishly, taking a careful step back towards the open doors._

 _Zelena raised the fireball over her head. "I'm perfectly fine the way I am, but I think_ you _would look much better charred, wouldn't you agree?"_

 _Anna tensed, preparing to try and dodge the attack when her savior came in a streak of blue and the sizzling sound of a dying flame. She looked back to the altar, finding Elsa still stuck but with her other arm outstretched towards Zelena._

 _The witch turned back at her with a wild look in her eye. "I've always been curious to see what a frozen heart looks like," she grinned._

" _Take a rain check!" Anna yelled. Zelena whipped back to eliminate her for being such a pesky nuisance, but when she looked to the doors, Anna wasn't there. She turned to her left and saw her on the other side of the pews, racing to get up to the altar, and she would have pursued her if she hadn't heard a low, rumbling sound approaching from outside the chapel. Zelena turned just in time to be caught in the antlers of Sven, and as the reindeer lifted her up to take her back towards the altar, she was met with Olaf's bright-eyed smiling face._

" _Hello!" he greeted as he plucked the urn out of her hands. He sat down and hugged the urn, waving to her as she reached out for him to take it back. "Goodbye!"_

 _Without hesitation, Sven dropped Zelena on the steps to the altar. She seethed in pain and scrambled back towards the holy centerpiece as Sven snorted at her, but when she saw Elsa out of the corner of her eye, she knew she had to make her move. She drew the crown from her cloak and lunged, staring Elsa's hand in the face as she made to rip her heart out._

 _She'd never get there._

 _Zelena doubled over, the wind knocked out of her, and she dropped the crown to hold her stomach in pain. She looked up through tears, intent to try and achieve her goal again when the sole of a medical crutch poked her in the chest and kept her from getting any further._

 _She and Elsa both were stunned at the sight of Anna holding the former back with the tip of one crutch while balancing with the other beneath her arm. She stood between the two mages and stared coldly at Zelena, the blue in her turquoise eyes coming out and almost matching her sister's._

" _Back off, greenie."_

 _With a mighty shove, Anna thrust the crutch forward and knocked Zelena back. She fell against the altar, struggling to get her feet under her, and in that moment of weakness, Anna saw her opportunity. She looked up to the rafters, heart beating wild from the adrenaline. "Kristoff, now!"_

 _On her command, a rush of hot water came down from the second story of the church, dropping right on top of Zelena and splashing over the altar. It snapped and melted some of the ice that kept Elsa trapped, and at the soonest moment she could wiggle her fingers she wrested her arm free. She rushed to Anna's side, intent to incapacitate the Wicked Witch who seized her home._

 _But when she got there, she found that she didn't have to. Zelena screamed out in frustration and pain, staring at her hands in terror as they began to liquefy… as did the rest of her. "No… no! You fools!" she spat as she sank to the floor. She pointed at Elsa, her finger melting as she made her declaration. "You haven't won yet! I'll get you, Snow Queen, and your little sister, too!"_

 _Seconds later, Zelena was nothing more than a puddle of green goo on the steps of the royal family's church._

 _Anna poked it with her crutch. "So… is she gonna leave a stain, or…? Oh, nope, guess it's just gonna disappear," she quipped as the puddle vanished. "Whew. I'd hate to have to explain that one." She smiled, looking up at Kristoff as he came down from the balcony, thankful he had thought of getting the water bucket when they left to help. "So I guess I was right about the Wicked Witch, huh Elsa?" She turned, expecting to get some kind of snarky remark back, but when she saw the queen hunched over with her arms tucked against her stomach, she knew that her sister wasn't up for celebrating the victory. "Elsa?"_

" _I couldn't do anything…" Elsa quivered. "I couldn't even fight her…"_

" _She can't hurt you anymore," Olaf said quietly, trying to remind her that the outcome of the terrible experience was positive. "And you got your crown back!" he smiled when she parted to pick it up off the floor._

 _Elsa stared at her reflection in the gold, not seeing the strong queen she was trying to be for her people, but the frail, scared little girl she had been for so long. She hated it, and she hated even more that another threat had come to her kingdom because of her. "How did she know about me?" she asked, looking to her family for answers. "She's not from here, she wasn't in Storybrooke—"_

" _Maybe it's got something to do with the urn?" Anna shrugged. "Is it magic?"_

 _Elsa didn't answer, too focused on the object as Olaf held it up for her to take. She had to understand what it was and what it did, but the moment she touched it, her anxieties about it were shown for all to see. Frost spiraled out from her fingertips across the bronze and she stood petrified as ancient runes appeared in the surface. She heard a faint noise in the back of her mind like she was being whispered to, and as soon as she got her nerve back she shoved the urn into Kristoff's arms. "Take it away from here!" she begged, stepping away from it and coiling back into herself._

 _He looked at it, puzzled by her reaction. "What's wrong with it? It's just an—"_

" _I don't care what it is. I don't want it in the castle or my kingdom!"_

" _Elsa what's wrong?" Anna asked, reaching out for her sister, but nothing could get to the queen for her mind and heart were clouded by fear. She stormed away from her family, walking solitary down the aisle and out of the church, back to the castle so she could think and simply be alone._

* * *

"…Some adventure, huh?"

Anna managed a small smile at Kristoff's attempt to make light of the situation. "Dummy. It's not much of an adventure anymore when you get hurt."

The perks of living in a small town was that emergency services were quick to respond. The paramedics arrived just minutes after Anna called and picked the two up in an ambulance on the main road, securing Kristoff in a stretcher to attend to his wounds on the way to the hospital.

She tried to ignore the way the doctors spoke quickly and harshly to one another, like they were trying to hide the reality of the situation from her. The bite wound was _bad_ and it was obvious that Kristoff was fighting himself to stay conscious.

His eyes glazed over as he sat up and looked at her, squeezing her hand tighter when he noticed the blood that stained her jacket. "D-Did it hurt you…?"

"No… no, I'm fine Kristoff." She held out her arms, showing that there were no tears in her coat and leading him to believe that the blood on her had come from his wound. "There's not a scratch on me."

"Good." He lie back down, thankful and satisfied that at the very least he had done his job and kept the woman he loved safe. Timidly, he reached for a cargo pocket on the side of his pants with his injured arm, but the pain jolted through the bite and he seethed, jerking back into the stretcher and accidentally knocking back one of the paramedics.

"You should _not_ be moving!" barked the emergency worker as he returned to press a towel against the wound. Kristoff clenched his hands, veins rising beneath his skin as he tried to fight off the burning sensation ripping through his body as well as the sudden urge to throw the medic through the side of the ambulance.

Only Anna's soft voice managed to calm him. "It's okay, I got it," she said, opening the flap on the cargo pocket and reaching inside. Her fingers wrapped around a cord and she pulled on it, staring in awe as she held up a brilliant blue crystal tied with a thin strip of leather. "This is from the trolls, isn't it?" she asked as she stared at the necklace, noticing how the crystal seemed to glow in the bright light of the ambulance cab.

Kristoff roughly nodded, gritting his teeth as Anna rested her fingers on his forearm and pressed the crystal against his closed fist. He wouldn't open his hand to take it.

"Relax," she said, trying to stay calm for him and everyone present as he screwed his eyes shut and tossed his head back against the gurney. "We're almost there, okay? The doctors will take good care of you and I'll be there every step of the w—"

Without warning, Kristoff lashed out and snapped his hand closed around Anna's wrist, breathing through his teeth as his wild eyes focused on the crystal. His fingers flexed, tightening around Anna's arm and she cried out in pain, trying in vain to pry him off. "Kristoff, let go! What are you doing?!" she yelled, slamming her small fist against his forearm when his vice wouldn't budge. "Let go!"

He gripped harder and in that moment Anna wondered what she had done wrong to upset him. It wasn't until she looked into his eyes and saw his brown irises turn red that she realized Kristoff wasn't himself.

One of the medics called for the other to sedate him, and immediately afterwards all hell broke loose in the cab of the ambulance. Kristoff broke off the straps that kept him safely restrained in the gurney, his wound and Anna completely forgotten as he turned on the medics. Anna screamed for the driver to stop the ambulance as Kristoff tackled the medic holding the syringe into the side of the cab and threw the other to the floor with his _prehensile_ _tail_.

 _He's turning into one of those monsters…!_

With the crystal in her tight grip, Anna braced herself as the ambulance came to a sudden, screeching halt. With the medics knocked unconscious, she knew she would be the next target for Kristoff's blind rage. She threw the doors open and jumped out, landing nimbly on her feet and recovering quick enough to slam one of the doors closed on Kristoff's mutating face. As fast as she could, she ran to the other side of the ambulance and started pushing the second door when it suddenly kicked out and knocked her in the head, sending her to the snow-covered pavement.

Dazed, Anna scrambled to get back on her feet and start making some distance as Kristoff swung the door open and jumped out. She dared to look back and to her horror, the man she loved was no longer. The only difference between him and the monster that attacked them in the forest was the sandy hue of his fur.

He soared at her and Anna pivoted on her heel, elbowing him in the side of the head as he tackled her to the ground. She struggled to get away, fighting valiantly against him, but Kristoff's strength ultimately overpowered her and he pinned her arms to the cement, screeching dominance into her face.

She closed her eyes and turned away, frightened but unwilling to give up. "Kristoff, stop…!" she begged, crying out when his sharp claws pierced her arms. "Seriously, you have to stop! You're hurting me!"

When he snarled at her words she realized that he likely couldn't understand her, and when he let go of one of her arms she tensed in anticipation of making her escape or getting hit in the process of trying.

But Anna didn't expect the monster… _Kristoff,_ to gently take her chin in one of his gnarled hands and tilt her head to the side. She stilled, her heart racing into her throat as Kristoff witnessed the thin line of blood running from a cut on her forehead. He backed off completely when he realized that she had gotten it from when he shoved the ambulance door into her.

He let go, stumbling backwards, confused on what to do. Anna, too, was lost, and tried to carefully sit up to avoid alarming him.

It seemed like the wrong moment, for as soon as their eyes met, Kristoff lunged again. Anna held up her hands to cover her face, but Kristoff merely knocked her back to the pavement, kicking her shoulder with one foot while prying the crystal necklace out of her hand with the other.

She didn't bother to get to her feet to chase after him, nor could she bear to turn around to watch him fly away. She lie there on the road, resting her bleeding forearms against her stomach and watching the snow fall until the sound of wingbeats melted into the breeze. It was then that she closed her eyes and began to sob, completely and utterly defeated beyond hope.

She lost her only chance at finding her sister that afternoon, and she lost the love of her life to a monster that hardly had the mind or semblance of the man he truly was. Elsa and Kristoff… they were gone, and Anna never felt more scared in her life.


	7. She Will Be Okay

It wasn't until after the first curse that Anna had trouble telling the difference between what was real and what was fantasy. She was a dreamer as much as she was a true believer, "gifted" with relentless visions through the night just as Nina had been. Sometimes she'd wake up thinking something terrible had happened, only to find that it wasn't true. Other times her sleep was peaceful, and a dreamless night made her forget the woes of the present… for a little while, anyway.

What happened in the forest… the blood, the shrieking and the fear… it was a nightmare in every sense of the word. And as an alarm drew her out of sleep and pain jolted through her body once more, she realized that her nightmare was very much real.

She groaned as she turned over in bed, reaching for her phone and turning it off blind as she buried her head into a pillow.

 _It smells like Kristoff._

That's because it was his bed. Anna slowly opened her eyes to the warm room around her, gazing upon photos of the forest that Kristoff had placed upon his dresser and nightstand. She recognized most of them as gifts from Nina, and somehow it didn't surprise her that John Wolfe had cherished them enough to frame them.

Rolling out of bed, Anna rubbed her tired eyes and made her way to the door, forcing herself to start the day even though every part of her wanted to do nothing and let the world turn without her. With both Kristoff and Elsa gone, Anna was now the sole adult who had to take care of the rest of their family on her own. She couldn't let them down.

As she exited to the hall, she spotted a light shining beneath the door of the other bedroom.

" _Olaf and Marshmallow get up and ready on their own,"_ Kristoff had told her once. _"I don't know if that's Elsa's responsibility in them or what, but they do a good job. All I have to do in the morning is feed them breakfast and make their lunches before I drive them to school."_

Breakfast and lunch, she could handle. She sorted out her bedhead as she wandered around the kitchen and located everything she needed, happy to hear doors opening and closing in the hall to confirm that the boys were up and moving. She cooked up an easy breakfast of scrambled eggs with a side of toast and berries, stealing quick bites from her own plate as the boys came in and she started making their requests for sandwiches. Bologna and cheese for Olaf, and ironically, a fluffernutter for Marshmallow.

They cleaned up well on their own for boys who were previously snowmen, though as the morning started to wear on and Anna finished packing their lunches, she noticed something concerning about one of them. "Marshmallow? You're not eating."

He tapped his fork against the side of his plate. "Not hungry…" he mumbled. "And Kristoff always makes bacon with eggs."

 _Kristoff's not here._

They all had the same thought, and as Anna looked around to their plates, she realized that they all felt the same pit in their stomachs. They couldn't eat much and even she could only manage a forkful of eggs and a few berries.

"You didn't eat anything last night," she remembered, going to the refrigerator and taking out a bowl of carrots. "And you've got a full day of school today, so you should try to eat _something_."

"Can I stay home?"

"We gotta go," Olaf told him. "Elsa always said that education's important."

"Mama's not here either."

"But she'd _want_ us to go—"

He was cut off by a loud, foul screech and the two boys dropped their forks, one clattering to the floor as they looked to Anna in fear. She, too, seemed shaken as she stood at the door wall at the side of the kitchen.

"I-It was just the door," she said, her hand trembling as she slid it open and reproduced the noise. "See? Nothing to be afraid of."

Though they had been the previous night. It seemed like as soon as Anna told the boys about the flying monkeys, they all started hearing them screeching in the forest around the cabin. Sven had stayed in his shed all night long and nobody slept well, especially Anna. As soon as she'd drift off, another screech woke her up, reminding her of Kristoff's transformation and what he had done to her. She couldn't help but wonder if Kristoff himself was in the forest taunting them.

She set the bowl of carrots outside and quickly closed the door, absentmindedly touching the patch of gauze taped to the side of her head. The medics cared for her cuts after Kristoff fled, but the horror of everything she witnessed stuck with her through the night. He had been in so much pain and there was nothing she could have done to help him, and when he reached out and grabbed her—

Her eyes fell on the dark purple bruise around her wrist, and then to the bandages on her arms.

 _That wasn't him._

"Anna, are you okay?"

She blinked, brought out of her thoughts by the question and the sound of someone knocking at the front door. "Y-Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks Olaf. Kai's here, so…"

Olaf nodded, tapping his brother's arm to get him to move and Marshmallow thankfully followed without Anna having to argue with him. She packed their lunches in their bags and opened the door, greeting Kai and Gerda as the boys got on their coats and shoes.

Though when it came time to say goodbye, Marshmallow marched right out the door while Olaf hugged Anna and wouldn't let go. She had to pry him off and remind him that he was going to be late if he didn't hurry, and after another quick hug he scurried on his way out the door and into the snow, seemingly fixated on the white fluff before he got in the backseat of Kai's car. Anna leaned in the open doorway, hugging her elbows to watch the car pull away, though she wondered why Gerda was lingering behind.

The older woman gently took her hand and led her back into the cabin. "You'll catch a cold if you stand there any longer!" she said, smiling at the simple shirt and lounge pants Anna was dressed in for bed. She closed the door behind them and took off her shoes and coat, wandering into the kitchen. "Come along dear, I'll make some hot cocoa for you."

Anna watched her go, brows raised as her former caretaker walked right in and fell back into the role she had in Arendelle. "Uhm… shouldn't you be with Kai?"

"He's picking me up after dropping the boys off at school," Gerda said simply as though it were no big deal that he left her behind, leading Anna to believe that this sudden visit was planned. Anna sat on a stool at the counter, watching Gerda search the cupboards for a mug and then for a packet of chocolate mix.

Gerda filled the mug with milk and put it in the microwave, setting the timer and then turning her full attention to Anna. She carefully took her hands and turned her arms over to see where the blood had darkened the bandages, cringing as Anna indicated the length of each scratch. "I was horrified when you called yesterday and told us what happened," Gerda said, her voice so quiet it was almost a whisper. "Kristoff is such a kind and protective man… I'd never expect him to do something like this."

Anna didn't either. She had been shaken so bad that after putting on a strong front for the medics who cared for her wounds at the hospital, she broke down crying in the bathroom. She felt so helpless and weak, so cowardly and empty that she knew that she could never make it home on her own before Kristoff or another flying monstrosity got her and the unthinkable happened.

She'd called Gerda in hysterics and Gerda rushed to pick her up, piecing the story together from what she understood and helping her to tell Kai, Olaf and Marshmallow what happened at the same time. The boys didn't take it well at all, first missing their creator and now their caretaker. The adults in the room had a lengthy discussion on what would happen with the boys, who would take care of them and where they would stay, and then if Anna should even continue to live in the apartment alone.

In a show of strength she didn't know she was capable of at the time, Anna declared that she would stay in Kristoff's cabin, not just to care for Olaf and Marshmallow in their own home, but because Sven needed to be looked after as well. She didn't realize until this morning just how taxing it would be without Kristoff there.

She looked at her bandages again, scratching at them lightly with the flat of her nails. "He didn't do it on purpose," she said, adamant in her belief.

Gerda nodded as she retrieved the mug from the microwave, knowing the man wouldn't harm a hair on Anna's copper head. "Are you sure that you'll be able to handle this?" she asked, tearing open the pouch of chocolate mix and stirring it into the milk. "You're working two jobs, taking care of two children and a reindeer on your own—"

"I can do it." Anna thanked her for the drink and she held the mug in her hands, comforted by the warmth at her fingertips. "Kristoff told me that he has money saved away to pay for the cabin in case if something like this happened, so that's taken care of. And what I make from the paper delivery and my tips at the diner will pay for the apartment." She took a short sip of her drink, biting back at the sudden heat and the glare Gerda was giving her.

"That's not what I was talking about," Gerda said as she started to clear the plates from the boys' half-eaten breakfast. Anna spun away from the counter with her drink, thankful for the help but uninterested in the topic. "Kai and I are here if you need us."

Anna said nothing as she went to the door wall and slid it open, taking pause at the screech it made before she sat down on the floor and faced the open backyard, trying to lose herself in the peaceful tranquility of winter and avoid the discussion Gerda was trying to have with her. Thankfully, Sven provided a good distraction for a little while, having found the bowl of carrots Anna had left for him. He munched on them sadly, of course having been told the news of what happened to his best friend.

She held out a hand and he pressed a nose to her palm, letting her pet the top of his head when she realized that he was only eating half of each carrot to leave the rest for Kristoff when he was back to being human… if he could ever return to his previous form at all.

Anna could feel the gaze of her caretaker and she bit her lip, unable to look at her and wanting to just ignore her, tell her to go away because she could handle this. She was a big girl, she could carry this burden and keep what was left of her family safe.

Except the more she thought about it, the more she sank into the reality of the situation.

Gerda watched her face shift, how her neutral expression fell completely and her hands dropped into her lap. Sven rested his chin on her knees, trying to find her eyes in the shadows of her fringe. "Anna…" Gerda started, unmoving from her spot at the sink, "…you're such a strong young woman, but you don't have to do this all alone."

"I know." Her voice was faint, so quiet it was hardly there. She held the palm of one hand in the other, still unable to make eye contact. "I keep thinking about how Elsa tried to protect me from her magic for so long… and how Kristoff got me back to Arendelle when I was freezing, and then how they both worked so hard to get that potion for me… and they were both so strong and confident that I felt like I was invincible when I was with them. Even when Elsa shut me out I looked up to her."

"But now that they're _gone…_ " she croaked, choking on the word and covering her mouth, sending Gerda into motion. Anna closed her eyes, forcing fresh tears down her pink cheeks. "I feel like I just found Elsa again, and now I don't know where she is or what happened to her or if she's even _alive_. And Kristoff… I love him so much and when he got hurt I didn't know what to do. I couldn't help him—"

"Anna—"

"I feel so _weak!_ " she cried, doubling over and pressing her fists against her forehead. Sven stepped back, making a noise of concern to try and draw her out while Gerda knelt next to her on the floor, rubbing circles into her back as she sobbed.

Gerda watched her charge in sadness. She, too, had been upset to tears when she heard that the queen was missing and what happened to Kristoff, but Anna's ties to them were deeper. They were her family and all that she had to cherish and love in the world, the two people more than anyone else who truly understood her and loved her the same.

Anna sniffed, drawing her knees up to her chest as Gerda hugged her around the shoulders to offer her support. "Do you know why Elsa and Kristoff are so strong?" Gerda asked.

Anna shook her head.

"It's because they love you, Anna. They love you for everything that you are and all that you do for them, and they'd never want to see you hurt." Gerda squeezed Anna tighter as the young woman crumpled into her side, clinging onto her for support and staining her sweater with tears. " _You_ give them the power to be brave and confident just by being yourself. You don't have to be _strong_ to inspire them… and you don't have to rely on your own strength to get through the other side of this. We're with you."

Slowly, Anna opened her eyes, staring at Sven's supporting nod and then looking up at Gerda. "I don't even know what I should be doing right now."

Gerda patted her arm and stared out into the snowy landscape. "That's all right. You'll figure it out, dear. You always do."

* * *

 _The first week of November brought Arendelle's first snowfall. Though typical for this time of year, the villagers, as well as the castle staff, all wondered if their queen was the cause of it._

 _Truth be told, she didn't know. Only several weeks removed from Zelena's threat, Queen Elsa spent every waking moment in such a tense state that it wouldn't surprise her if she had caused the small storm. She welcomed the snow regardless, reveling in the colder weather in the spare moments she had between meetings._

 _But those moments were few and fleeting. Elsa found herself in the council chambers so often now that she was starting to forget what the world looked like outside the castle walls._

" _These threats to Arendelle cannot go unpunished!" one of her councilmen declared, snapping her out of thought. "First the Evil Queen, now the Wicked Witch. They're both waiting to strike again, I know it!"_

" _From what I've gathered from our time in Storybrooke, the Evil Queen is no longer a threat," another member calmly argued. "And Master Kristoff vanquished the witch. Certainly a puddle cannot threaten the village, let alone the entire kingdom."_

" _And those flying monsters? What of them?"_

" _They fled after the witch was slain."_

" _She wasn't "slain"." Everyone turned their attention to their queen. Elsa calmly rose, straightened out the dark purple jacket she wore and pressed her gloved fingers to the table. "The witch… "Zelena" merely melted with a threat to return. I can believe that she has an aversion to water, but I doubt someone so powerful could have been killed so easily."_

 _Another councilman perked up his head. "What are you suggesting, Your Majesty?"_

" _That perhaps Zelena escaped to recuperate and rethink her plan. When she had me cornered in the chapel, she told me that her mother and sister both tried to manipulate me before. I can only assume she meant Cora and Regina. If I'm right, then I'd expect her to be just as determined as she is dangerous." Elsa rubbed her forehead with a small, frustrated sigh, remembering how easily Zelena baited her into going to the chapel and rendered her useless with one simple threat. "What of the urn? Has it been taken care of?"_

 _The room fell silent. Everyone looked at each other, confused until someone at the side of the room cleared his voice. It was Kai._

" _Master Kristoff has taken the urn upon your request to the Northern Valley, Your Majesty," he explained, smiling at her look of relief. "He mentioned a cave with a secret entrance in the rocks. It should be safely hidden throughout winter until the snow melts."_

" _That gives us time to find a more secure place to hide it. Thank you, Kai."_

" _I don't understand," an elderly gentleman guffawed. "Why don't we just destroy it?"_

 _Elsa's eyes went wide in fear of someone acting upon his idea. "We don't know what kind of magic it contains!" she argued. "And there's the possibility of something being trapped inside. If we destroyed it, who knows what we would unleash? I'd rather research it while we have it in our control instead of causing another problem for our kingdom."_

 _And to be honest, she just wanted the damn thing away and out of her sight. She almost literally froze every time she saw it, and though she couldn't read the runes the one time she held it, she knew their appearance couldn't mean anything good. Something within her just knew that it was bad, and staying away until she knew more about it was her best option for now._

" _Speaking of problems…"_

 _Elsa glared across the table at Baldor, who hesitated at the sight of her icy blue eyes. "I'm sorry, Your Majesty, but King Servi of the Southern Isles is still refusing to negotiate the peace treaty. He's sending correspondence to surrounding kingdoms that you're causing the storm over the islands."_

" _He's exaggerating."_

" _They've already surpassed their record snowfall and it isn't winter yet. Another storm is headed their way as we speak."_

 _The constant barrage of snowstorms to the Southern Isles locked them in a perpetual blizzard, and the remarkable nature of it all made Elsa look guilty. She suddenly felt the eyes of her peers staring down upon her, regardless if they suspected her or not. "I-I can't do that," she stuttered, feeling as though she had to explain as the council was hanging on to her every word. The strong, regal presence she held at the beginning of the meeting began to fade, and she felt like she was losing her grip on the facts as her fears began to loom. "If I caused the storm, it'd center itself on me. I can't send one anywhere; I don't know how to do that."_

" _And even if I did, why would I?" she continued to ramble, feeling weak as she misinterpreted her council's concerned stares. By the looks on their faces, she thought they were judging her. "We struggled to reestablish Arendelle after the curse. I only want peace between our kingdoms, nothing more."_

" _Then perhaps we should make that clear to King Servi and his sons," stated an older gentleman on the opposite side of the table from Elsa. "Because if we don't, I'm afraid that the odd circumstances surrounding the Southern Isles may very well lead them to declaring war."_

… _War?_

 _No… no. That was the very thing Elsa was afraid of, and hearing someone else say it made the possibility feel closer to reality. As the councilmen started arguing amongst themselves over their next course of action, Elsa was stuck on one thought: Somehow all of this was entirely her fault._

 _It was her responsibility to keep Arendelle and her people safe. It was her duty to guard her home as her father and ancestors had done before her. Never before had war been declared upon the peaceful kingdom in the fjord, and if she allowed it, she would be remembered as the first ruler in Arendelle's history to fail in the promise she made on her coronation day._

 _As the voices around her rose, Elsa could hear nothing but her own heartbeat and a small, quiet sound that everyone else must have been deaf to. Her ear was so tuned to listen for her magic that the crackling noise she was hearing sounded as loud as shattering glass. She looked down, horrified to find that despite the gloves she wore, frost was coating the table where her fingers met the old wood._

 _From the side of the room, Kai could tell that something was wrong. "Queen Elsa?" he said, raising his voice above the others to get to her._

 _Elsa snapped her hands back, wiping away the frost before anyone else could see it. Kai was at her side in seconds, and when she realized how quiet the room had become, she stood up straight to meet the eyes of her council. They weren't looking at her like before when she felt them judging her; they looked genuinely concerned for her well-being. Baldor leaned forward, his brows drawn together in worry. "Your Majesty, are you alright?"_

" _Yes, I'm… I'm fine," she lied. "I was just thinking." With a deep breath, she stepped back from the table and folded her hands together to hide her frosted palms. "I'll draft a missive to the Southern Isles and explain what I know about my magic and how I feel about our relations. Is it still possible to send a ship out to the islands?"_

" _The seas are choppy around the isles; I doubt they've frozen yet," Baldor mused. "It might be a rough journey, but it's nothing our captains can't handle."_

" _Good. Kai, tell Captain Enok to prepare his ship to set sail tomorrow morning," Elsa ordered, nodding to him to affirm that she was okay and he could leave her side. "We'll send him and his crew along with whatever lumber we can spare for the Southern Isles to warm their homes. Meanwhile… I'll work on that letter for King Servi and have it finalized before they depart. I just hope he'll understand."_

* * *

Anna was never good at sitting and doing nothing. Gerda insisted that she stay at home and rest after her harrowing ordeal, but the simple task was impossible. She had to get up and do _something_ , otherwise she'd spend the whole day thinking about what happened and feel worse for it. The bruises and bandages along with her incessant nightmares were enough reminders of what she had gone through.

When she biked into town she felt lost on where to go. The day was too bitter to stay out in the cold and she didn't have much of an appetite to stop in at Granny's on her day off. No, more than anything, she needed someone to talk to. At first she thought she'd give Archie Hopper a call and make an appointment to see him, but the therapist had quarterly-hour rates and Anna was short on income. Right now she needed a friend, so she took a chance and went to the sheriff's office, hoping Emma would be there.

Thankfully she was, but so was Hans.

Anna honestly expected him to make some smart comment as soon as he saw her walk in, and it looked like he was about to until he spotted the gauze taped to the side of her head. "Anna, what happened?" he asked, spinning away from his desk to fully face her. She said nothing, and the defeated look on her face as she took off her jacket and revealed her bandaged arms told him everything. Hans stood up from his seat and pulled a chair out from another desk, offering it to Anna before knocking on Emma's office door.

For the next twenty minutes, Anna sat there and recounted the previous afternoon as clearly as she remembered it, doing her best to elaborate on details as Emma and Hans interrupted her with questions. By the end of it she felt exhausted and shaken, knowing that her situation couldn't possibly get any better.

Hans leaned back in his chair, sucking in a breath as he thought about the strange events happening in town. "Well, I guess we've figured out how people are disappearing," he said. "Little John got bit, too. He turned into one of those… _flying monkeys?_ " he asked, shaking his head when both Anna and Emma nodded at him. "Anyone who gets close to a town line gets attacked by them. You guys were near one when you went down that road, and it probably explains why you're hearing them around Kristoff's cabin. He lives close to there, right?"

Anna nodded again, wondering now if it was even safe to continue living in the cabin with Sven and the boys. "The flying monkeys remind me of the Wizard of Oz," she said absent-mindedly. "Part of me wants to believe that there's really a Wicked Witch and she's trying to keep all of us from leaving."

"Actually… Regina said the same thing." Emma crossed her arms and shrugged. "I mean, you're a true believer, so if both you _and_ Regina are thinking along the same line—"

A sudden snort and chuckle from across the room cut her off and she glared at Hans. He leaned back in his seat with a hand on his forehead, coming to a stunning conclusion. "Elsa's a _monkey!_ " he laughed, imagining his former enemy as a mindless chimp with wings. "Oh this is too rich! Storybrooke is the gift that just keeps giving."

Emma rolled her eyes as she stood from her seat on the desk, pushing Anna back in her chair when the spitfire got up with the intention of punching out the deputy. "Knock it out," Emma spat, smacking Hans in the shoulder, though she had to admit he had a plausible theory. "Anna, you said that you were following Elsa's glove through the forest at the edge of town. Do you know what's beyond those woods?" she asked, turning to a map of Storybrooke hanging on a nearby wall. "It's just a clearing, isn't it?"

Anna went silent, biting her lip as she looked at the map and tried to remember what she and Kristoff were talking about before the monkey attacked and all hell broke loose. "I… I think Kristoff said something about a… barn? And a farmhouse too. I think." She looked up, blinking at the excited smile that spread across Emma's face. "Waitasec, could the Wicked Witch be hiding there?"

"It's out of the way, hidden, and only a few people actually know what's over there." Emma looked down at the holster at her hip, resting her hand on the grip of her gun as she thought about the new threats in town. "It seems a little too convenient to me that these monkeys show up right when you guys come back from Arendelle without Elsa. My guess is that the Wicked Witch nabbed her before she cast the Dark Curse or kidnapped her as soon as you guys got to Storybrooke."

"…What would she want with my sister?"

"I don't know, kid, but we're gonna find out."

Hans leaned over in his seat and rested his chin on his fist. "You know, Emma, Elsa's prone to running when things get dangerous," he mentioned, watching as she returned to her office to grab her coat. He winced when a pen bounced off the top of his head, no doubt thrown by Anna. "How do you know that she's not hiding over there?"

"Call it a gut instinct. She loves her family too much to hide from them again," Emma said, smiling at Anna. "I'm going to take Killian and David with me to scope the place out, see if we can find this witch or Elsa, or at least a clue to where they might be." As she took her phone from her pocket, she paused, watching as Anna and Hans both got out of their seats as if they were going to join the expedition. "Uh, hold on a minute. _You_ have to stay here and react to any monkey attacks in town," she told Hans, promptly sitting him back down and feeling absolutely absurd about what she just said. She turned to Anna, softening her sights and looking her straight in the eye. "And I think you should probably go home."

That wasn't something Anna wanted to be told, especiallynow. "I can help!" she begged. "I can keep watch for those monkeys, or if we find Elsa and she's scared or upset I can calm her down. I can help… just let me do _something_."

Despite her plea, Emma was unconvinced. She saw how tired the young woman was, heard the weariness in her voice… witnessed the desperation in her eyes. Any other time, Emma would have gladly accepted her aid, but with the way Anna was now, she was more frightened of her getting hurt.

"Anna, I know you can help us, but I'm asking you as a friend: Please go home and rest for a few days. You're already hurt," she explained as Anna stepped back and lowered her head to avoid having to look at her, "and you have so much to deal with right now. Take care of your family and let us take care of the bad guy. I promise I'll call you right away if we find out anything about Elsa."

Immediately Anna opened her mouth to protest, but she quickly realized that she had no evidence to prove that she'd be able to manage the scouting trip without becoming a liability. She was clumsy, heartbroken and unconfident in herself and her abilities.

 _I'm useless._

She stood there, numb as Emma walked past her to leave the office and start the scouting mission… to be the hero Anna couldn't be. Hans silently watched her, trying to understand what she was feeling as she slowly moved to grab her coat.

What he saw wasn't encouraging. Anna was defeated. Completely, utterly defeated, and it made Hans mad.

"So you're just giving up?" he asked, frowning as Anna carefully put her coat back on and turned her back on him. "You're satisfied walking away from this with your tail between your legs?"

"Hans…"

"You have all the information you need to find your sister, but instead you're going to go home and cry, aren't you?"

"Hans." Anna held her hand up, silencing him. " _Please._ Shut. Up."

He scoffed and leaned back in his seat, swiveling to face the paperwork at his desk. "Fine. Do what you want, but you're letting your sister down. You and I know better than anyone that the only person who can save Elsa is _you_."

Elsa would have to take a raincheck then, because "Brave Anna", the heroic, kick-ass princess of Arendelle, was currently checked out and gone.

* * *

" _How did that happen…?"_

 _The gloves were supposed to help. They_ always _helped._

 _And yet Elsa froze through them as though she hadn't been wearing them at all._

 _She sat on the floor in the library, thankful the fireplace was still burning from when she left it. Turning her gloves inside out, she held them out to the flame, using the heat to melt the ice shavings that had been trapped inside the useless white leather. With a heavy sigh, she dropped her head to her knees._

 _She was exhausted. Every time she thought she was getting ahead, a new problem came up or a current situation grew worse. She had the support of her council and her people, and of course her family was always there for her as well, but the weight of her crown was beginning to feel heavy and her magic was_ not _helping it feel any lighter._

 _Elsa dropped her gloves to the floor and stood, peering at one of her unfinished paintings as she searched her memories. She had an extra pair of gloves hidden in nearly every room she frequented, and though Anna wanted to throw them all into the fireplace, Elsa insisted for her own comfort that they stay just in case she needed them. As bad as Elsa wanted to forego them, her sudden slip-up in the council chambers made her worry what would happen if she wasn't wearing them during the meeting._

 _She went to an old desk on the far side of the room and opened a drawer, thankful that the spare white gloves were still where she left them. As she pulled them on and closed the drawer, she glanced at the painting above the desk, paying it no mind until she remembered exactly what it was and where it had come from._

 _It was the fjord painting Alison had created in Storybrooke. She had been so proud of the piece, and Elsa was too, but it brought back horrible memories of weakness caused by a shady pawnbroker._

" _Rumplestiltskin…"_

 _The name fell from her lips and sent a shiver up her spine. As she stood there and stared at the spot where the canvas had been mended, she swore she could hear his mocking laugh and the telltale thump of Mr. Gold's cane. The longer she looked, the more her memories belittled her until she was brought back to the Dark One's final moments._

" _There is a prophecy… one I tried to steer you from, but I failed. Do_ not _give in to the nature of your magic," he had warned her. "Protect her. Anna will help you find a way through the darkness."_

 _When they returned from Arendelle, Elsa was obsessed with finding out anything about the prophecy. It was because of Anna that she was able to let it go and focus on her duties instead, leaving the research to her sister until she had more time to dedicate to it. As Anna said, there was no point in worrying over it because nothing strange was happening yet._

 _Not until this afternoon, at least. After the events surrounding her coronation, she was more aware of what it took for her magic to spill past her control. What happened at the council meeting was sudden, and for her to project her magic subconsciously past her gloves at a twinge of distress… it was a little unsettling._

 _It made her think that maybe this prophecy would become more of a current problem._

 _Closing her eyes, Elsa shook her head, trying to rid herself of her nervous thoughts. Perhaps a stroll outside of the castle would clear her mind?_

 _She walked out of the front doors at a casual pace, telling her guards where she was going and denying their request to escort her. She could hardly go anywhere in her own home without being watched; right now all she wanted was some time alone._

 _The light snowfall was a welcome sight to her, and in the minutes she spent traveling through the marketplace to the far side of the village, she felt rejuvenated. The villagers she passed on her way were gracious with their words and quick to show their gratitude for her fine work, but she could feel them secretly judging her, just like her council. She felt their eyes upon her, heard soft murmurs and whispers she wasn't meant to hear. Someone pointed out that they couldn't see her breath in the cold air. Another mentioned that the snow seemed to swirl around her where it simply fell everywhere else._

 _Wanting to avoid their prying gazes, Elsa hurried to her destination, one where neither guard nor commoner was allowed to go. It was a refuge for her family only, and as such it lie on the edge of town, just beyond a thicket of brush and trees._

 _As she started up a steep incline, she noticed fresh footprints in the snow. They were too large to be Anna's, and the princess could only use one foot at the moment, anyway. Elsa would have thought that someone was intruding upon this sacred place had she not thought of the newest member of her family. He wasn't official just yet, but when summer came to Arendelle, he would be._

 _She stayed back as she came to the crest of the hill, giving Kristoff space as he knelt between the stone obelisks representing her mother and father. He held his hat tightly in his gloved hands and raised his head, looking between the monoliths once more before he rose to his feet._

"… _Thank you," he whispered._

 _He walked backwards, smiling at the graves one more time before he turned around and came to a sudden halt. "Oh, Elsa!" he exclaimed, clearly surprised. "S-Sorry, I thought I was alone and… well, I didn't expect you to be here. I mean, not that you're_ not _supposed to be here, this is your family, and—"_

 _Elsa calmly reached out and touched his shoulder._ "Kristoff."

 _He cleared his throat and faced her with a sheepish grin. "Hi."_

 _She rolled her eyes and walked past him, taking her gloves off as she approached her parents. "You know you're allowed to come up here," she said, glancing back at him as she conjured her magic between her hands. "You're our family too."_

 _He nodded, watching in awe as Elsa made a bouquet of ice roses and placed them against her mother's grave. "I thought I'd ask for their blessing, too," he said quietly, putting a hand in his pocket. "I mean, don't get me wrong. I'm honored that you blessed the marriage, but this just seemed like the right thing to do."_

" _I'm sure Mother would approve," Elsa smiled wistfully, eyes lingering on the late queen's monument. She conjured another bouquet and laughed to herself as looked proudly at the second obelisk. "Father would probably give you a hard time because you're marrying his youngest daughter, but he always meant well."_

" _That's… that's good, right?"_

" _Yes, Kristoff. That's good."_

 _He smiled in relief, thankful that Elsa thought her parents would welcome him into the family if they were still there. Standing together, they watched the graves through the silent snowfall, neither minding the cold or the friendly company on an otherwise, perfectly bleak autumn day._

" _Hey… Elsa? You feeling okay?"_

 _She shrugged. "I'm fine. Why do you ask?"_

" _Because you're wearing the gloves again," he noticed, cringing as Elsa pulled the second one on and promptly hugged her hands beneath her arms. "I thought you hated wearing them?"_

" _I do," she said, glancing at her father's grave and quickly looking away. "I'm just… I'm stressed. Is that a problem?"_

" _No, no. It's fine."_

" _So then what about you?" she asked with a raised brow. "Don't think that I didn't notice you holding onto that crystal for dear life," she said, pointing down to the blue gem Kristoff held tightly between his fingers. "Something's bothering you too."_

 _They thought too much alike to hide anything from each other. Kristoff sighed and held up the crystal by its leather cord. "I'm worried," he said simply, wanting to leave it at just that, but Elsa's curious stare urged him to elaborate. "With the witch attacking and the monkeys and everything else… you know Anna's not going to sit still no matter how many times we tell her to."_

 _Elsa chuckled, tense shoulders relaxing as she thought of her little sister. "Yes, I'm well aware. We had to give her a hobby just so she'd stay in bed to rest her ankle. She_ knits _now, so I hope you're not expecting anything but scarves and mittens for Christmas," she joked._

" _I don't mind._ This _coming back with me from Storybrooke is enough of a present already," he said, nodding down to the crystal in his hand. "Don't know how the hell it got in Gold's shop in the first place, but I'm just glad to have it again."_

" _It's a gift from the trolls, right?" Elsa asked._

" _Yeah, but I noticed something different about it when we came back home," he said, sounding perplexed. "Whenever I'm with Anna it… I don't know, it seems to glow brighter. I mean, troll crystals always glow," he tried to explain, "but when I'm with Anna, it shines so bright that it could light up a room. I bring it with me for good luck when I'm harvesting, and every time I look at it I think about her and what we've been through. I just don't want her to get hurt again."_

 _Elsa went quiet. She wished the same, but she knew Anna would never be safe living in the same castle as the Snow Queen. If what Rumplestiltskin said was true and the prophecy came to pass, Elsa could only imagine a violent scenario that resulted in her sister being harmed again._

 _The thought scared her. She was told to protect Anna, and Elsa would continue to do so regardless of the prophecy, but what if she couldn't be there to keep her safe?_

"… _If something happened to us," Elsa started, hesitant and unsure, "or if we got lost, or… I don't know, if the Wicked Witch kidnapped one of us—"_

 _She cut herself short with a breath when Kristoff raised his brows in utter surprise at her. "Hypothetically," she continued, hugging her elbows to hide her embarrassment as Kristoff's odd look turned neutral. "Do you think Anna would be okay? Alone, I mean?"_

" _Well, with all the staff in the castle and the snowgies up on the mountain, I don't think she'd ever really be_ alone _," he laughed, trying to make light of the question. His smile faded when he realized that Elsa wasn't laughing. Actually, she looked more like she was ready to curl into a ball and hide in the nearest snow pile. "Are you worried about something?"_

" _I'm the queen; I worry about everything." She sighed, urging him to answer the question with a pressing stare. "Please take this seriously."_

 _Kristoff looked down in thought, staring at the crystal in his hand. "I think you already know what would happen," he said, smirking as a small ray of sun broke through the clouds to illuminate the facets of the crystal. "If something happened to us, she'd come running after us right away."_

 _Elsa pursed her lips, looking to the graves with a haunted frown. "That's what worries me."_

" _She can handle herself, Elsa."_

" _Yeah, but she tends to act before she thinks."_

" _And she always succeeds. Most of the time, anyway," Kristoff added. "Come on, realistically, what would she do if you went missing?"_

" _She'd get hurt," Elsa cringed, blinking against the ray of sun as it grew wider and filled the glade with light. It shone upon her parents' graves and glided over the sparkling snow, rising up to envelop her in a warm embrace. "But… Anna would find me," she realized, feeling as though her sister was right next to her in the light even though she was stuck at home. "Whenever I ran or I wanted to be lost, Anna found me. Every single time."_

" _She never gives up."_

" _No she doesn't. That's just the way she is, isn't she?"_

* * *

 _Pick yourself up, dust yourself off. Take the bad with the good and keep marching on._

It's what she often told herself to stay motivated, to keep going when times were tough. The "bad" part of this situation was tough to swallow, but the "good"…

There _was_ no "good."

Anna curled up on the couch in Kristoff's living room, holding a pillow over her head in a desperate attempt to block out the world and try to get some sleep to hurry along the day. She came home from the sheriff's office wishing she had never gone in the first place, feeling more useless now than she had the previous day.

Angry at herself for being so weak, she threw the pillow to the floor and covered her eyes with her bandaged arms, willing herself not to cry. Gerda couldn't have been more wrong. She couldn't be strong, and how the hell she inspired Kristoff and Elsa to be whenever she was around them was a mystery because she couldn't inspire _herself_ to function at the moment.

 _Okay, I get it: you're down. It hurts and it sucks, but you gotta get it together._

Yeah, but _how?_

She heard a car door slam outside before she could figure it out. She sat up, straightening out her hair as she heard footsteps on the wooden deck and watched the doorknob jiggle. Seconds later, Olaf opened the door and walked in, looking meek as Marshmallow quickly followed behind him.

"Hey guys," Anna said, putting on a weak smile as the boys started taking off their winter gear. "How was—"

Marshmallow, red in the face, slammed his backpack to the floor and kicked his shoes off into the wall, marking the wood with dirty water from the snow outside. He fumbled with the zipper of his jacket as he stomped to the hallway, saying nothing but clearly upset about something.

Anna watched him leave and jumped when a door slammed and rattled the pictures on the walls. "What happened?" she asked Olaf, standing up to clean the mess Marshmallow had left in his wake.

Olaf shook his head as he hung his jacket up in the closet and placed his shoes on a mat to dry. "A kid at school said Elsa was a witch and that _she's_ the one who's making people disappear," he cringed. Anna grimaced, understanding how a comment like that could set the little boy off. It'd make her mad if anyone her age had said the same thing.

Though Anna had seen Marshmallow when he was at his worst, and his worst was downright terrifying if he were still made of snow. "He didn't… y'know, _hit_ anyone, did he?"

"No. He just yelled a lot and the teacher separated them before anything happened." Olaf twiddled his thumbs, feeling bad for his brother, but he also knew his reaction was harsh. "We should probably go talk to him," he said, looking to Anna for help. "I think he needs us right now."

Agreeing, Anna finished cleaning as she prepared to try and calm down the most temperamental snowman she had ever met. Marshmallow didn't have a strong relationship with her like he did with Elsa. Anna knew that he liked her enough to call her "Auntie", but beyond that and a few drawings he gave her, she didn't understand him quite the same as her sister did. It was very much like Elsa's relationship with Sven: timid and awkward.

With support from Olaf, Anna worked up the energy and courage to knock on the closed door to the boys' bedroom.

"Go away!"

"…Like I haven't heard that one before," Anna muttered under her breath. "You are _so_ Elsa's snowkid." Thankfully, the bedrooms in the cabin didn't have locks and Anna could walk in with nothing more than a verbal protest. Marshmallow was curled up on his bed much like Anna had been on the couch just minutes ago, only he held onto his pillow as though he were trying to strangle the feathers out of it. "Hey, Mar—"

"I said go _away!"_ He sat up, blue eyes blazing as he whipped the pillow at Anna. She caught it before it hit her and dropped it to the floor, wondering how she was going to get through to this child. "I don't wanna talk!" he spat, red in the face.

"I-I know, but… maybe if we _do_ talk it'll help you feel better?" Anna tried, knowing that nothing at this point would make either one of them feel okay with the current situation. Her suggestion only seemed to enrage the boy further. "When Elsa and I talk, it helps her out, so I thought—"

"Mama's not here." Marshmallow squeezed his eyes shut, trying to keep from crying when he said it out loud. "Kristoff's not here. Why are _you_ here?!"

 _Why was Anna still here when the people he cared about most were gone?_

That's what she thought he meant, and that's exactly what Olaf heard. "Stop being so mean!" he yelled, irritated with the way his brother was acting. "She's just as upset as you are, so stop it. It's not nice."

Marshmallow opened his eyes, staring coldly not at his brother but straight up at Anna. The resemblance was remarkable: he looked so much like Elsa when she was reaching her breaking point. "Why are you just standing there?" he asked, his young voice deepening a little to remind them all of the golem he used to be. "Why did you let Kristoff get hurt?!"

"Marshmallow, stop!" Olaf begged when he saw the first tear roll down Anna's cheek. Marshmallow saw it too, but he didn't care.

"Why aren't you looking for Mama?! Why can't you _find her?!"_

Anna took a step back, caught off-guard as she struggled through her emotions. "I can't—"

"Why aren't you _doing anything?!"_

"I DON'T KNOW!"

The room went completely silent, and the two boys looked up at Anna in shock. She stood with her hands clenched at her sides, shaking as she stared at Marshmallow through her tears. "I'm mad too, okay?!" she yelled. "I'm _mad_ that we're cursed again, I'm _mad_ that Elsa's missing and Kristoff got bit. I'm mad that I can't do anything _useful_ around here because I can't keep myself together, and I… I can't…"

"I can't do this," she admitted, falling to her knees in pain, submitting to her grief as everything she tried to push back caught up to her again. She was supposed to be the strong adult here, the one who would take care of her family and lead them through this dark time. Yet there she was, hiding behind her hands as she sobbed in the middle of a child's bedroom.

Seeing Anna reduced to such a state made Olaf's heart clench. She was always so bright and optimistic, and he couldn't stand to see her so hopeless. He knelt on the floor beside her and wrapped his arms around her shoulders, thankful when she hugged him back. "You're doing your best," he said, hugging her tighter when she buried her head in his shoulder. He squeezed his eyes shut, feeling suddenly overwhelmed as he thought about his family. "I bet if they can, Elsa and Kristoff are trying to get home, too."

Marshmallow remained still on the bed, losing the grip he held on his anger as he watched Anna and Olaf cry. They were hurting just as much as he was. They were lost and scared, and Marshmallow pushed them to crumble when he lashed out in frustration. Calmer now, he regretted his actions. He shouldn't have let his peer at school get under his skin or taken out his anger on his family when he got home. He shouldn't have yelled at Anna and blame her for not doing enough. She was doing everything she could; none of this was her fault.

Silently, Marshmallow slid off the bed and sat on the floor, reaching out and touching Anna's knee. She unburied her head from Olaf's shoulder, looking up to find Marshmallow with tears in his eyes. "…Can't do anything like this," he said, looking down at his hands. "Too small. Too weak. I can't protect Mama and you here. Not strong enough to keep everyone together."

He felt useless, too.

Before he knew it, he had a part in the established embrace and collapsed under the weight of unshed tears, holding onto Anna for support, knowing that for as strong as they were, losing their loved ones was too much to bear. Even Olaf, a clear reflection of Anna's optimism and energy and Elsa's ambition, was finding it difficult to stay positive in the grim circumstance.

But he had hope. He felt Anna's heartbeat through the hug, remembered what she was capable of and why she was so special, and he smiled. "We're gonna find them. Right, Anna?"

It took her a moment to respond. After everything she had gone through recently, she wanted to tell him "no", that it was impossible to reach Kristoff and Elsa now with the threat of the flying monkeys. But there was a part of her that still spoke louder than her thoughts, a _belief_ that one day this pain would end for everyone she loved.

She sat back, looking between the two boys in her arms. And she _smiled._

"They're our family, Olaf. I'm not giving up on them, and I never will."

It had been a rough first week back in Storybrooke. Anna faced setback after setback, clinging on to whatever strength she could muster in small moments of hope. She had no choice now but to follow Emma's advice and take some time to recover what she had lost.

But when she got back on her feet again… that witch better watch out. Anna was joining the hunt, and she wasn't going to stop until she got some damn answers.


	8. Fall Back, Spring Forward

_Regardless of the technical season, winter had come in full force to Arendelle. The villagers carried on as usual, perhaps crowding the marketplace more now with the upcoming holidays, and the snow was nothing more than a minor inconvenience to them. If anything, the sparkling flakes reminded them of their fair queen who had worked tirelessly to ensure their safety through the cold weather._

 _A certain peace had fallen over the castle in recent weeks, one that Gerda couldn't be more thankful for. It was a relief for her to see Queen Elsa work at a calmer pace without the need for so many council meetings, and she found her taking rest in her room more often than at her desk or in the library. Still, Gerda's experienced eye could tell that something was amiss with the young woman, but she couldn't quite figure out what it was. She respected her privacy too much to ask._

 _The princess, however, was as typical as ever despite the castle's tranquility._

 _A pair of double doors burst open down the hall and Gerda stopped still in her tracks, sighing as her charge came speeding at her._

" _Hi Gerda!" Anna chirped, waving quickly as she ran past._

 _Gerda shook her head, disapproving the way Anna slid on the wooden floors with a heavy book in her arms. "Your Highness, please be careful! The doctor just released you from rest yesterday—"_

" _I know! I'm finally free from the crutches; isn't that great?!" Anna grinned as she came to a stop and put her shoes back on. She twirled, giggling as she started skipping down the hall towards the spiral staircase._

 _With a sigh, Gerda relented. The princess was going to do what she wanted despite her warnings, though she had to admit it was good to see her up and moving again. Anna wouldn't be Anna if she wasn't a little reckless._

 _The princess jumped onto the banister of the staircase, hugging the book in her arm and smiling with glee as she slid down to the main floor of the castle. Her twin braids fluttered behind her and she grinned harder the faster she went, not wavering in spirit when she ran out of railing and stumbled back to her feet. She paused just a moment to check that her ankle was okay before she continued on her way, dancing shortly with Olaf and giving Kristoff a quick peck on the cheek as she passed by them in the hall._

 _Eventually she came to her destination and didn't hesitate to knock her rhythm into a wood door painted with a single golden crocus. There was a kind answer on the other side and Anna let herself in, meeting her sister's warm smile with her own. "Good morning, Elsa!"_

" _Good morning," replied the queen, happy to see her sibling back to her usual, happy self now that she had recovered from her injury. Elsa, too, was glad that the wounds she sustained had healed and disappeared, leaving no trace on her skin and allowing her to don her favorite ice dress again without fear. "You're not doing anything reckless again so soon, I hope?"_

" _What? Me? Psh, nope." Anna waved off the question as though she hadn't spent all night climbing onto the snowy roof of the castle, though by Elsa's look she wasn't sure she convinced her. The queen rolled her eyes and Anna gave her a snarky look back, about to make an excuse for herself when she noticed the clutter of books on Elsa's desk. "Wow. Someone's doing research."_

 _Elsa nodded, putting her quill back in its holder and placing a mark in the book she was hovering over. "A bit of magical study," she said simply, shrugging as Anna opened the cover of one of the older texts. "After meeting so many people who could use magic in Storybrooke, I guess I've been curious."_

" _Curious about what? Making fireballs?" Anna tilted her head to the side as she skimmed the page she opened to. "Sorry, sis, but that's probably_ not _in your skill set," she joked. Elsa sat back, chuckling to herself as Anna closed the old book and was promptly fogged by a cloud of dust._

" _Not that kind of magic, no. I was just wondering if… well, if there was ever anyone else like me."_

 _Anyone else who was born with ice magic, or who could wield it at the very least. Elsa didn't feel alone but she always felt the odd one out, even when her magic was in control and she was normal as can be._

 _Anna wasn't sure what to say to her. She wanted to tell her that yes, there was probably someone else at some point and she wasn't alone in her magical gift, but getting her sister's hopes up could be dangerous if she were let down._

 _So she decided to change the subject, interrupting Elsa's previous train of thought by plopping the book she brought with her down on the desk. "Well, I've been doing my_ own _research during my bed rest."_

 _Elsa raised a brow at her as the book was opened. "I thought you were planning your wedding?"_

"… _And when I wasn't planning my wedding I was researching," Anna quickly continued, turning the pages of their father's tome until she came to a certain spot for her sister to read. "Have you ever heard of "The Wishing Star"?"_

" _Yes. And no, it's not real," Elsa sharply said, brows knitting together as Anna immediately sought to challenge her. "It's just some old wives' tale."_

 _Anna stood up straight, put her hands on her hips, and smirked. "I seem to remember you saying the same thing about the Wicked Witch after I told you the story, and guess who was right about that?"_

" _That was different._ This _doesn't exist," Elsa argued, pointing to the words on the page with open palms. "Look, I remember reading this, and I love Father but it all sounds like hogwash to me."_

" _And that_ hogwash _could be real! I'm telling you it is; I know it!"_

" _Anna, I think you're abusing your power as a true believer."_

 _The princess bit her lip, unwilling to let Elsa refuse the idea. "Papa wouldn't write about it so much and actually search for it if he didn't think it was real," she countered, watching as Elsa closed the tome and shoved it towards her. ""A crystal born of a pure heart and a star forged of hope"; he said that's what you need to make the Wishing Star. Doesn't that sound like magic?"_

 _It did, but Elsa refused to believe it. She stood from her seat, placed her hands on the desk, and she looked at her sister in disappointment. "I wish you'd put as much effort into planning your wedding ceremony instead of chasing this story," she admitted, following Anna's sights when the younger girl looked away. "You haven't finalized the guest list or the menu. Did you even speak to the tailor about your dress yet?"_

" _No…" Turquoise eyes looked anywhere but at her sister and they finally fell on her own folded hands. She touched the ring on her finger, spinning it absent-mindedly. "But it's just hard to concentrate on the wedding right now when you're so…" she hesitated, shrinking back at Elsa's stern look, "…unhappy."_

 _Taken aback, Elsa looked down at the work on her desk, shaking her head as she slowly took her seat again. "I'm not unhappy, I'm just…"_

" _Stressed?"_

" _A little."_

" _Magic acting up again?"_

" _Yeah, it's…" She stilled, forgetting she had been trying to keep her slip-up a secret. "N-no, wait, I didn't mean—"_

 _Elsa gulped and stared at Anna like a reindeer caught in headlights. Her sister figured her out and tricked her into confessing it._

 _It's not like there was much to figure out to begin with. Anna knew better by now that when Elsa had too much on her mind, ice sprouted around her whether she wanted it to or not. With everything that had been going on, it didn't come as a surprise that her magic was giving her trouble again. "I wish you would have told me," she admitted, disappointed in her. She looked around to the piles of old books stacked up on the desk, knowing Elsa was looking for help in other places. "I'm your right hand for a reason. I'm here to help you and you know that."_

 _Numb, Elsa nodded, sinking back into her chair, but she said nothing more. She felt ashamed for having to rely on Anna to pull her out of all of her problems. She was a grown woman, not a scared little child anymore; she should be able to handle this on her own._

 _Anna huffed and put her hands on her hips, wondering who they both inherited their stubbornness from. If she tried to push the subject further, they would argue and it'd make them both feel worse. "…I've gotta get to sword practice," she said, smiling a little at Elsa's perplexed, wide-eyed stare. "It's just light exercises to help out my ankle, I promise ! But Elsa… seriously, if I can help you, let me know, okay? I don't like seeing you like this."_

 _Anna left with a half-hearted grin and a wave, her morning sobered now just as much as Elsa's had started with little ice floes in her bathwater. The queen looked around to the books piled high on her desk, each one old and filled with dust from years unread during the curse, and then she gazed upon the tome that Anna had left behind. It sat in the middle of the organized clutter, calling out to her, reminding her of the late king's old lessons that were meant to control her power._

 _The mantra had worked years ago, and it ultimately failed though she fell back on it through instinct. The gloves he had told her to wear were growing useless as well, good for protecting her hands but not protecting others from her most volatile magic._

 _Elsa leaned forward and held her head in her hands. Her magic felt restless for very little reason. The work she and her council had done was solving the problems plaguing Arendelle, so why was her control slipping again? There was no reason except…_

 _She shook her head, casting the thought aside. No, that couldn't be the answer to this. This could simply be a flux in her power like one of the books stated, or perhaps it was a very late growth spurt in her magic. That seemed more likely; she'd gone through it many times as a teenager._

 _Then again… the prophecy could hold some answers if she could discover what it said. Maybe… maybe—_

 _No. She couldn't afford to think of "maybe." Actually, she couldn't afford to think much at all right now; she felt her magic humming at her fingertips and it would only take a small touch of the wrong emotion to send it flying._

 _Turning in her seat, she looked out the window, staring out into the endless sea of white snow. She needed to be out there, to clear her mind and calm her heart, and perhaps learn something in the meantime._

" _Anna's learning to use a sword; maybe I should keep up with my riding skills," she thought to herself as she cleaned up her desk. "I haven't seen Magnus in a while. Maybe he can help me figure this out."_

* * *

Flying monkeys. Wicked Witches. It seemed that living a "normal" life in Storybrooke was impossible, but for the next week, Anna, Olaf and Marshmallow tried to do just that with some success.

Mornings were a little hectic once Anna returned to running her paper route. Kai or Gerda would come over extra early on those days to watch over the boys, but she'd still race home to make breakfast for them and pack their lunches. She hardly had time for a shower and a snack before she was out the door again to start her shift at the diner.

Things were typically quiet at the cabin until nightfall, when the monkeys would screech in the forest to keep the family from sleeping, or when Anna would wake up screaming from a nightmare. Olaf had been wonderful in helping her sort out her dreams, and talking with him and Marshmallow made it easier for them all to cope with the situation. Of course Sven was included in those conversations as well, though his participation was limited to nods, snorts and grunts. By the end of that week, they had gotten so used to it just being the four of them that it started to feel normal.

Then again, nothing would ever truly be normal until Kristoff and Elsa came home.

On another gray winter morning, Anna grit her teeth as she biked into town. She was rested and more than ready to get back out and start searching for her missing loved ones. Emma had called during the week to tell her that Elsa was still nowhere to be found, but she discovered that the farmhouse at the end of the hidden road indeed belonged to the Wicked Witch.

The information prompted Anna to make a list of things she had to do before all was right with her family again.

 _1) Find the Wicked Witch  
2) Punch the Wicked Witch in the face (use shovel if available)  
3) FIND. ELSA.  
4) Find a way to de-monkify Kristoff  
5) Punch Wicked Witch in the face again just because_

Simple. First things first though; she had to get through an early shift at Granny's Diner.

It was supposed to be her day off and she had planned on knocking a few items off her list, but there was no way she could skip out on work that morning. Granny had called her late the previous night, asking her to come in and help service the diner for a wake.

Neal Cassidy, Emma's former lover and Henry's father, had died. Like Elsa, he had been missing since the second curse began. He mysteriously showed up in town two days ago with a brand on his palm, unsure how he got there or where the brand came from. Due to Belle's intrigue in all things magical, they discovered that Neal had tried to resurrect his father, Rumplestiltskin, in the Enchanted Forest during the missing year.

Anna felt as confused now as she did when Granny told her the story. To resurrect his father, Neal had to sacrifice himself, but when Rumplestiltskin realized what his boy had done, he somehow managed to protect him by hiding Neal's soul within his own. Two souls cannot exist in the same body, and it was causing harm to both so long as they remained together. Emma had to separate them, and upon doing so, Neal perished.

Which meant… Mr. Gold was alive.

It sent a chill down Anna's spine. As if dealing with the Wicked Witch wasn't enough, she could only imagine what Mr. Gold would have planned for the town. Hopefully he would see the Witch as a threat and join the heroes to cast her out of Storybrooke.

She pulled her bike into the small alley next to the diner and chained it to the fence. Judging by the cars parked in the street, the wake had already started. She was just supposed to be there for a short shift to help Granny out, then she'd be free to start her search for the Wicked Witch.

As she walked around to the front of the diner, one of the mourners walked out. Anna didn't recognize the woman; she was fair-skinned with curly red hair, and wore a rather large emerald around her neck. Their eyes met and Anna looked away, not wanting to stare, but when the woman slowed to speak with her, she had no choice but to look up at her again.

"Well, well, if it isn't the Princess of Arendelle," the woman smiled. "It's about time we ran into each other again."

Anna blinked. "Again? I don't even remember meeting the first time."

"Oh, that's right! Silly me. Missing year and all, what a pain," laughed the woman. "How's your sister?"

Confused, Anna stared at her. If they met during the missing year, then how come she couldn't remember it but the woman could? Anna shook her head, unsure how to respond as she tried to figure this stranger out. "I… I don't know."

"Still missing, isn't she?" the woman guessed, ruby lips growing wide in a smile. "And you can't remember where she is, can you? How unfortunate."

She sounded like she was glad that Elsa was gone and held a tone that mocked Anna for forgetting why she was missing. If this woman was telling the truth, if she really did remember something from the forgotten year, then she must have used magic to protect her memories from the curse… or she was the one who cast it. Anna took a step back when the thought crossed her mind. "You're the Wicked Witch!"

"Indeed I am. Call me Zelena if you'd like; you might as well considering I'm the one taking care of Kristoff now."

She struck a nerve, and Anna quickly regained the step she took back. She walked right up to the witch and got in her face. "If you do _anything_ to hurt him I _swear—_ "

She stopped, kept from doing or saying anything more as Zelena held up a waved dagger bearing Rumplestiltskin's name. "Or what?" she asked gravely, stopping Anna's pursuit with the threat of the Dark One. "He's my pet now; why would I want to hurt him? Your _sister_ on the other hand…"

Anna's heart skipped a beat and she felt the color drain from her face. "…What did you do to her?"

"Nothing. Not yet, anyway."

Before Anna could pursue her for a better answer, Zelena vanished in a cloud of green smoke just as the door to the diner slammed open. Emma and Regina walked out, staring at the spot where Zelena stood just seconds ago. "Anna, are you alright?" Emma asked as she ran down the steps. "We saw the witch and—"

"Zelena has Elsa." Anna clenched her hands as she repeated what she just said in her mind. She had a hunch, but now that she _knew_ … all it did was make her angry that her sister was so close by and yet so far out of her reach.

Regina crossed her arms and shook her head. "Well, that's one mystery solved; only a dozen more to go."

"What would Zelena want with her?" Emma asked, looking at Anna. She said nothing, and Emma turned her questioning stare to Regina instead.

"…Swan, way are you looking at me?"

"Well, you and Zelena are sisters—"

" _Half_ -sisters," Regina corrected. "Allegedly. Look, I know nothing about her except that she wants to _fight me_ tonight. I'm going to figure out exactly what this witch thinks I did to her and… pipsqueak, where the _hell_ are you going?"

Fueled by her own anger and frustration, Anna marched down the street in the direction of the forest. "I'm tired of talking about it. I'm gonna go punch that _bitch_ in the face and bring my sister home."

* * *

" _One, two, three! Good! Give me five more repetitions, Anna, then we're finished!"_

 _On the outside, Anna looked focused as she swung her sword, slashing the air in defined and powerful strikes as instructed by Master Rolf. On the inside, though, she felt like a complete mess. Her muscles ached from the workout, unused to such movement after seven weeks of resting. Her ankle throbbed through the standing exercises and she felt weaker for it. But those distractions paled in comparison to what was going on in her head._

 _She kept thinking about Elsa. Ever since the Wicked Witch infiltrated Arendelle, Elsa was acting different. She got irritated quickly, especially if she was interrupted while she was trying to concentrate. She lost interest in things she enjoyed doing in her spare time; she hadn't touched a paintbrush in at least a month and the grand piano was growing a second layer of dust. Her sleep schedule was irregular and her appetite, usually healthy for her crazy metabolism, was hardly there._

 _Anna wanted more than anything to help her, but she just didn't know how. Most of her late efforts were pushed away or ignored._

" _Alright, Anna. That's enough for today," Master Rolf smiled, patting her on her leather armored shoulder. "How's the ankle?"_

 _She tapped the tip of her boot against the floor. "It's still pretty sore, actually."_

" _Go get some ice from Her Majesty and rest up for a few days. It's a process, Your Highness," he reminded when he saw her disappointed frown. "It's not going to get back to full strength overnight."_

 _She wished it would. Sheathing her sword, Anna thanked Master Rolf and left the military quarter of the castle. A nice bath sounded good to her at the time, but she thought it better to get ice from Elsa now while she was thinking about it. If she waited too long, she'd catch her sister at a meal or some meeting and she'd feel bad for interrupting her._

 _Then again, it_ was _winter, and the snow was abundant as ever this time of year. A walk around the castle grounds to cool off and collect some snow for her ankle wasn't a bad idea either._

 _She smiled at the white fluff covering the cobblestones in the courtyard outside. After learning about Elsa's magic, Anna could appreciate the beauty of winter more than ever now. The cold felt good to her and pierced her training armor where the stale air of the castle could not. It took the heat out of her cheeks and then brought it back, her body combating the chill with a pink nose and goosebumps. Just a few minutes of wandering, then she'd collect her snow and go inside to relax before washing up for lunch._

 _She was curious to see what the gardens looked like with a dusting of snowflakes, so she was headed on her way there when she heard a frightened, bloodcurdling whinny come from the stables. Thinking one of the horses got spooked by a rabbit, she paid it no mind until she heard it again. Something was wrong._

 _Anna raced to the stables as fast as her tired legs would carry her. The double doors were open, and she slowed her sprint to a trot as she entered and looked around to the stalls. All of the horses seemed to be on edge, staring at Anna and shifting on their hooves as she walked by. The stable keep was nowhere to be seen; out on a lunch break, she assumed, and as she got closer to the center of the building she noticed that a gate to one of the stalls was open._

 _She held her breath as she looked up at the names of the horses above their stalls and began to worry the closer she got to the open gate. She stopped just short of it, peering into Kjekk's stall and watching him cower until he realized she was there. Looking at Anna seemed to calm him, but another loud whinny startled the both of them and had them looking to the stall next door. She saw the steam of the frightened horse's breath flow out into the cold air, chasing someone out of the stall that Anna didn't expect._

" _Elsa?!"_

 _The queen held up her gloved hands, staring wide-eyed into Magnus' stall as her panicked horse seemed all but ready to charge at her and out of the stables. She backed into a support beam, unaware that her sister was there until Anna stepped between them and reached out towards Magnus._

" _Hey, hey! Whoa! Calm down, boy!" Anna gently coaxed, trying to stay in his line of sight as he threw his head. "Easy! Easy!"_

 _Elsa stayed back, holding her hands against her chest and taking sharp breaths as she watched Anna expertly handle the situation. Anna had a way with animals that Elsa didn't, and it made her sad to see Magnus calming for her sister but not for her. She and Magnus shared a bond… at least she thought they did._

 _It finally got to the point where Magnus stopped swaying and held still as Anna gently held his muzzle. "It's okay," she whispered. "You're alright. Both of you." She looked back at Elsa, worried about what had caused her horse to lose his nerve. "Are you hurt?" she asked, glad when Elsa shook her head. "What happened?"_

 _Elsa swallowed, looking past Anna to Magnus and then to Kjekk and the other horses in the neighboring stalls; they all seemed to look at her with the same uncertainty. "I-I thought I'd take him out for a ride since I haven't been able to see him," she started, "but when I got close to him, he panicked, and…"_

 _She shuddered. Magnus was the sturdiest, bravest horse she had ever seen, and the way he looked at her when she unlocked the gate was haunting. It was as though he expected her to hurt him._

 _Anna petted Magnus' neck, listening as his panting quieted to silent breathing. "He seems okay now," she smiled, running her fingers through his short patterned mane. "Maybe he didn't expect to see you? How about you try again?"_

" _N-No, I shouldn't."_

" _Oh come on, Elsa! It's Magnus! You two are friends!" Leaving the horse's side, Anna approached her sister and took one of her hands. "Just go slow."_

 _Guided by Anna's pull, Elsa walked with her to the open stall. Magnus stared at her pensively, watching her every movement. It was perhaps the first time he looked just as nervous as his rider, but both were comforted with Anna there between them._

 _Elsa timidly reached out, willing herself to believe that Magnus wouldn't react like he did last time, and she was relieved to see him standing his ground. They were friends, like Anna said. They had a trust that no one else could understand. A small smile tugged at Elsa's lips when her gloved fingers barely brushed Magnus' cheek… and that's when everything went completely wrong._

 _Spurred on by nothing but a mere shred of doubt, a pang shot through Elsa's heart and raced up her arm to the hand she was reaching with. Eyes wide in fear, she snapped her hand shut before her magic flew loose and fell back to the ground as Magnus reared. Even as his frightened cry filled the stables, she could still hear the sound of ice crackling to life and felt it spreading into and outside of her glove._

 _Anna quickly took action. Before Magnus could even think to storm out of his stall, Anna closed the gate and locked it. She thought that the extra barrier between him and Elsa would have at least calmed him down, but his nervous chatter riled up Kjekk in the stall next door. "What's wrong with you guys?!" Anna yelled, trying to make herself heard over the noise. "It's just us!"_

 _Elsa, meanwhile, stayed where she sat in a mess of dirt and straw, cradling her left hand to her breast. She risked a glance down at it and covered it with her right when she saw the blue ice crystals growing on her fingers._ This _was why Magnus was acting the way he was. She squeezed her eyes shut, reliving the way he chased her out of his stall when she first got there and just recently threatened to kick her away when she tried to get closer. He was afraid because of_ her.

 _And so was Kjekk._ All _of the horses in the stables were on edge because of her._

" _Elsa?"_

 _The queen huddled into herself, feeling lost and defeated as her sister knelt down and hovered over her. "Elsa, what's wrong?"_

"… _I don't know."_

 _Anna pursed her lips together, heartbroken when Elsa refused to look up at her. "You know that you can tell me anything." She stared at Elsa's frozen hand, wishing she understood what she was going through. "I mean, if I can help, then—"_

" _Anna, I_ don't know _what it is!" Elsa cried in frustration, locking eyes with her for a brief second before casting her sights to the dirty floor. She kept her frozen hand close to her chest as she gripped the loose straw scattered around where she sat. "I felt fine when we came home and now all of a sudden… my magic, it's just…"_

 _She paused, looking down to her right side, struggling to continue with what she wanted to say. Anna peered closer, wanting to help. "It's just… what?"_

 _Elsa didn't respond because she found the answer to the question she didn't realize she was asking. Among the bits of straw she had gathered in her hand, there was one piece that was unusually sturdier than the others. She opened her palm, mouth parting in shock as a twine of gold fell among the straw like it naturally belonged._

 _It didn't. Straw into gold, she knew that story. It was Rumplestiltskin's._

 _She slowly looked up and scanned the floor of the stables, clenching her teeth and staring in horror as she found more strands of gold hidden amongst the straw. It glimmered in the light from the open doors, scattered about so blatantly that Elsa would have had to been blind if she didn't notice it from where she sat._

 _Either Rumplestiltskin was still alive, or his dead ghost was haunting her to warn her that this was the beginning of the prophecy she was to carry out._

 _Anna kept quiet, unsure what to say and even more unsure what to do to bring her sister out of this. But when a bright blue snowflake blinked into existence, followed by so many more, her heart sank as the sad flurry formed and hovered around Elsa. The flakes looked just as lost as she was, and as badly as Anna wanted to help, she had no idea how to start aside from simply being there for her. This was a magical problem that went beyond her expertise._

 _Taking a chance, Anna reached out and lightly touched Elsa's knee. The contact startled her, but there were no ice spikes or frost to accompany her frightened eyes._

" _I think maybe we should go talk to Grand Pabbie," Anna said, not at all interested in giving Elsa the option of not going to see the old troll. "He's helped us understand your magic a few times before. He can help us again."_

 _Elsa hoped he'd be able to, lest she unwittingly cast another curse over her kingdom._

 _Anna sighed, giving Elsa's knee a soft squeeze when she buried her head in her hands. "It's okay. We'll get through this. We always do."_

* * *

It took Emma and Regina both to convince Anna not to go to the farmstead and confront the Wicked Witch alone, especially since she was in control of the Dark One's dagger. With no choice but to return to the diner, Anna stubbornly worked through her shift while Emma and her family tried to free Mr. Gold before the showdown that evening.

The diner was slow and it drove Anna nuts to be stuck there with the lack of customers, but the quiet allowed her the time to slow down and think. By the end of her shift, she was calmer and could pursue her goals with a clear mind. After stopping at her apartment for a change of clothes, Anna was back out the door and speeding down Main Street with a plan to get her sister back that evening.

Of course, she had to stop at Mr. Gold's for something first, and with Belle and Emma there interrogating her, she had no choice but to tell them what that plan was.

"Anna, no."

She rolled her eyes and looked over her shoulder at the sheriff. "You know, you're starting to sound more and more like Elsa every time you say "no". Normally by now she gives in, but you are _really_ persistent."

Emma crossed her arms and set Anna with a stern stare as the redhead continued to browse a rack of swords. "You _just_ got back on your feet again and what you're planning is _crazy._ Zelena's going to notice that you're not at Main Street tonight."

"I don't think she's gonna care so long as Regina's there to fight her," Anna shrugged as she pulled a sword partly out of its sheath. She checked the sharpness of the blade and promptly put it back, grabbing another sword with a teal scabbard and leather holster. "And what are you yelling at _me_ for? You're always running into danger around here, aren't you? Elsa and Kristoff are my family; I'm the only one who can help them."

Belle understood Anna's reasons for wanting to go, but she worried for her as well. "You have to think for a minute," she said as Anna pulled the new sword from the scabbard. "Maybe Zelena was trying to bait you at the diner with what she said. You could be walking into a trap."

Anna ignored her, focused on the blade in her hands. It felt comfortable; lightweight but sturdy, and the edges looked as though they were sharpened recently. What struck her most was just how comfortable the leather-wrapped grip felt in her hand, not to mention the golden crocus etched into the pommel. There was a feeling that washed over her as she stood there and stared at the blade, one that she couldn't describe, but it was familiar… she felt like she had done this before.

Without warning, she held the blade out and twisted it in a flourish, settling into a battle stance and stunning Emma and Belle into silence. She stared at the far wall, relishing in the nostalgic pose, and she gave the sword another showy spin before she put it back in the sheath and looked over her shoulder.

"If it's a trap, I think I can handle it." She held up the sword towards Belle, tilting her head to the side when she saw her perplexed stare. "How much for this one?"

"Uh… n-nothing. It's yours."

"Great!" Smiling, Anna pulled the leather strap of the belt through the loops of her jeans, securing the sword to her side; the crocus on the silver buckle reassured that the weapon was meant for her.

Emma had to blink several times to break free of her stupor. For as long as she had known Anna, she saw her as a courageous young woman with a good heart and unfortunate bouts of clumsiness. She was completely against letting her follow through with her plan, but after seeing the way she handled the sword, Emma had to reconsider.

"…You said you're planning to sneak onto the farmstead as soon as Zelena gets into town, right?" Emma asked. Anna held the grip of her sword with both hands, giving her a curt nod. With a deep breath, Emma relented. "Alright then. When we found Mr. Gold, he was in a cellar just outside of the house. Elsa wasn't there, but I think it's worth it to check it again. Zelena might have moved her there."

Anna smiled in relief, thankful for the help. "I'll get in and get out as quick as I can, I promise!"

"Yeah, but you're gonna need backup. I have someone in mind, only… you're not going to like who it is. Sorry, kid."

* * *

"Oh. My. GOD. Can you drive any _slower?!_ "

"It's a one-way road!"

"To a place where only one person lives! This is a time sensitive mission and…" Anna paused, stilling when the headlights suddenly grew brighter. "…What was that?"

"I turned on the high beams. It's dark in here."

"…Okay. Sure. Turn on the bright lights. Might as well turn on the flashy ones on top and blare the siren to let the Wicked Witch and her monkey friends know we're on our way to break into her house."

The squad car went silent as they continued down the bumpy dirt road. Of course, out of everyone in Storybrooke who could have possibly helped Anna with her mission to the farmstead, Emma _had_ to send Hans with her. It was such a natural choice.

He gripped the wheel tightly with both hands, turning off the brights and muttering to himself. "Hey, I didn't exactly volunteer for this, okay? If it were up to me, I'd be in town to protect it from that witch, not chasing after a hunch to bring back the person who ruined everything for me in Arendelle."

Anna crossed her arms, huffing. "Says the guy who claims to have buried the hatchet."

"Says the princess who swore she'd never ask for my help again."

"I didn't ask! That was Emma!" Anna yelled, pouting as Hans snickered at her outburst. He was getting her mad on purpose; of course he was, that snake. She settled down in her seat, tightening the belt that held her scabbard and sword as the forest trail opened up to the wide meadow of the farmland.

The stupid grin on Hans' face grew wider when he glanced over at her and saw her pick something up off the floor of the car. "So, when's Emma going to give you a big-girl gun?" he laughed as Anna slung the strap of a Super Soaker over her shoulder. She rolled her eyes at him.

"What's a real gun gonna do? Everybody _knows_ that the Wicked Witch is weak against water!"

Hans shrugged. "I'm pretty sure the witch would be weak against a bullet between the eyes, too. Do you actually _have_ a plan? The fight on Main could have started any minute now and we don't have all night."

"Of course I do: Check the cellar, check the house, check the barn, and don't get bitten by any evil monkeys on the way."

"What kind of plan is that?!" Hans exclaimed as he parked the car in the driveway. Anna opened the door and stepped out without giving him an answer, and he hurried to catch up as she started stalking to the cellar entrance without him. "Hey, I'm talking to you!"

"Hans, shut up! Seriously!" she spat. "I swear, if we get attacked, it's your fault." With a grunt, she pulled open the heavy door to the cellar and paused to look around. With only the light from the house and a few more at the barn in the distance, the farmstead looked like a sea of black. "Are we clear?"

Pulling his gun from its holster, Hans quickly scanned the skyline and the dark forest around them. "No monkeys as far as I can tell," he whispered. "If you're going to go, better do it now before they spot us."

Without hesitation, Anna hurried down the rickety steps, fumbling for the pull switch to the light when it smacked her in the face. She swatted at it, caught the string and pulled on it, taking her time to look around the room for signs of danger once the light bulb turned on.

Nothing and no one. Dang it. Of course finding Elsa wasn't going to be as easy as happening upon her in the first place they looked. There was a cage sitting open in the center of the small space, but the spinning wheel and straw inside proved it was Mr. Gold's prison, not Elsa's. Anna checked the walls, knocking on them to make sure that there wasn't a hidden door somewhere, and when she found nothing she decided to take the search elsewhere.

"Hans!" she called, walking towards the steps. "She's not down here! Let's hurry and check the house next; we need to—"

She stilled on the bottom step, silenced by the sound of a gunshot. Two more quickly followed by ungodly screeching that Anna was far too familiar with. Snapping out of her stupor, Anna grabbed the hilt of her sword and bolted up the steep stairway, only to be stopped at the top step as Hans barreled into her.

Anna could hardly stay upright as she caught him and was pushed back down into the cellar by his momentum. Her ankle unexpectedly gave out on the last step, sending her crashing to the floor with Hans landing right on top of her. She pushed him away in disgust, scrambling to her feet and staring at the cellar entrance for any sign of monkeys. She heard one chittering, but for whatever reason it didn't pursue the attack.

She could tell that the mission was heading south when she saw the monkey climb down the first step and then retreat just as quick. It was being held back, and that meant danger wasn't far behind. "Hans, we gotta get out of here," she said, drawing her sword as she faced the stairway. "I'll go first and you can cover me. We just have to get back to the car before… Hans?"

She heard his pained effort to muffle a cry of agony and she slowly turned to find him cringing on the floor where he fell. Slowly, Anna knelt to the ground, reaching out to Hans with her sword gripped tightly with her other hand. She called out his name and got no verbal response, just a shiver of pain that revealed a large bloodstain on the side of his sweater and another on his left calf.

"Oh no…" she breathed as she saw a row of punctures on his hand, indicating a monkey bite. "Way to _not_ follow the plan, dummy."

There was nothing she could do to help him now; the only option she had was to make a beeline for the squad car, hope the keys were still in the ignition and pray that she picked up something from watching Kristoff drive his jeep.

"I hope you're not thinking of leaving, Anna."

The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end and she pivoted, readying her sword and staring down the redheaded woman in black.

"You've already gone through the effort of sneaking into my home; you might as well stay," Zelena smirked with a glint in her eye. She cradled something bronze in the crook of her arm. "I can conjure a cage for you right next to your friend Rumplestiltskin."

Anna gritted her teeth. "Where's Elsa? What have you done with her?!"

"Oh, me? I've done nothing," Zelena laughed. "I'm merely keeping her away for now. If you could remember what happened last year, you'd know that I'm not lying." She reached down, stroking the cap of the urn she carried like it was a prized possession. "Poor girl. It must be hard to function with no memories in that fuzzy little brain of yours."

A cackle rose in Zelena's throat and was cut off by a well-aimed stream of water hitting her square in the forehead. She winced and glared at Anna, irritated by the sight of the shrew standing bold with a water gun in one hand and a sword in the other.

"I'm not gonna ask again," Anna seethed. "Where is Elsa?"

Zelena scoffed. "You think you're so smart, hitting me with water? _You_ figure out where she is," she challenged. "And you can put that _toy_ away. This isn't your world; water does nothing to me here."

Anna ditched the Super Soaker and stared Zelena down, preparing to force her way out of the cellar until she heard Hans' tortured howl. Darting to the side, she pointed her sword at Zelena but kept Hans in her peripheral as he underwent his horrifying transformation.

"It's really a shame." Zelena pulled a white leather glove from her cloak and casually tossed it at Anna's feet. "You were so close and now you're going to get ripped to shreds by one of my darling pets."

Anna jumped at the sound of a foul screech and she turned her sword at Hans, backing away from him as the red-furred monkey bared his teeth and claws. "You don't have to do this."

"Oh, but I do. You stopped me in Arendelle, but you won't ruin what I have planned for Storybrooke. With Elsa taken care of, I already have the upper hand." She looked down at the urn, running her thumb across the runes on the face. It brought a satisfied, devilish smile to her lips that sent chills down Anna's spine. "And… well, I'm wicked, and wicked _always_ wins."

In one swift move, Anna scooped up the glove and charged at Zelena with her sword at the ready. She swung at her, but the blade met nothing but green smoke while an evil chuckle mocked her for trying. Pressing on, Anna attempted to climb the stairway and take her chances with the monkey waiting for her at the top, but she was held back when the one below grabbed her weaker ankle.

"You're making it real hard to like you when you do stuff like this, Hans!" she yelled, trying to shake off his grip until she got frustrated enough to slap the back of his paw with the flat of her blade. He reeled, howling after her as she scrambled up the remaining steps.

As soon as she emerged from the cellar she sprinted away as fast as she could, but she didn't get far when Kristoff dove in and took a swipe at her. She ducked under his long reach, popping up and catching him in the gut with the pommel of her sword. "Sorry!" she apologized as the sandy-furred monkey fell to his knees, winded. "I still love you, just, you know, as _you_ , not the scary flying fuzzball."

She cringed at his shaky response and turned around, weighing her options for retreat: the squad car she didn't know how to drive or a bike she noticed leaning on the side of Zelena's house. Instinct was leading her towards the bike when a terrible, piercing screech filled the night air from behind her. She turned just in time to put her sword up to protect herself from Hans' primitive assault.

He grabbed the blade instead of her throat and howled in frustration when she blocked his effort to knock her down. She pushed back with everything she had, determined to get back to the cabin safely with another chance of confronting Zelena in the future. With a surge of pure adrenaline, she batted him away, catching her breath as Hans regained his composure before lunging at her again.

He'd never touch her. She just barely caught sight of Kristoff soaring in before he crashed into Hans, knocking him to the ground.

Anna hesitated to react, having thought that the two flying monkeys were working in tandem, but that clearly wasn't the case as they swatted at each other, baring their fangs and chittering what she assumed were insults at an ungodly decibel. Slowly she backed away, trying to take advantage of the distraction while avoiding bringing attention back onto herself. It was only when Kristoff solidly socked Hans in the jaw did she turn heel and run towards the bike on the side of the house.

Her senses were running wild and everything around her was trying to throw her concentration to where it wasn't needed. Her lungs burned in the cold air and her ankle throbbed from when Hans tried to keep her from escaping the cellar. Frost-covered grass crunched beneath her feet and her own heartbeat threatened to deafen her from the harsh flap of monstrous wings approaching from behind.

She turned too late, facing Kristoff just in time for him to hook his paws beneath her arms and hoist her into the air. "Hey, let me go!" she yelled, wildly kicking her legs and flapping her arms to loosen his grip, but he only held onto her tighter. She grit her teeth and glanced up; if she could position the sword right she could stick him on the downbeat.

That would have been a very bad idea if she decided to go through with it. They were rapidly gaining altitude, and it wasn't as though Kristoff was doing anything to hurt her. He'd actually saved her.

Laying in a heap of wings and fur in the meadow below, Hans was knocked out cold. His face was a little battered and his eye was swollen shut, but hopefully when they found a way to de-monkify him, he wouldn't remember anything that happened.

Anna laughed in relief, tilting her head back to look at her heroic, monkey-faced stud of a boyfriend who came to her rescue despite trying to kill her only seconds before. "Hope you're not expecting a kiss for that," she teased, happily surprised when Kristoff sighed in disappointment. He could understand her, and for whatever reason, he seemed free of Zelena's control.

Despite having traveled backwards for most of the flight, Anna recognized the road and the woods they soared over. She expected him to fall back under Zelena's spell and take her back to the farmstead, or to any other hidey holes the witch had in Storybrooke. But as the familiar clearing of his backyard came into view, Kristoff descended, gently lowering Anna to the ground and then landing before her, timid and unsure as he held his paws together against his chest.

A twinge of fear ran through Anna as she looked into his red eyes; his fangs were hidden for now, but she couldn't shake the memory of him snapping at her when he first transformed over a week ago. He'd frightened her, terrified her actually to the point where she didn't feel safe being in town with him on the loose.

But she loved him for the man he was, not the monkey he was cursed to be, and she knew in her heart that he would have never hurt her like that if he wasn't under Zelena's influence.

So she walked up to him, sheathing her sword while maintaining a safe distance, just in case. "Thank you, Kristoff," she said, grinning when she saw his eyes go wide as though he didn't expect her to say those words to him again. "I mean it. If it weren't for you, Hans might've bit me."

Kristoff nodded, then tentatively walked up to her, reaching for her face. He curled his fingers, hiding his claws as he brushed her bangs away with his knuckles. The noise he made when he saw the pink scratch on the side of her temple could only be translated as sadness.

"It's okay," she told him, holding onto his wrist and moving it to his side. "It doesn't hurt anymore." She bit her lip, unsure what else to say even though she had a million things on her mind that she was ready to burst out with. Eventually she settled on a question to ask, though she wasn't sure what kind of an answer to expect from him. "How did you break free from Zelena?"

Slowly, Kristoff responded by unclenching his hand from his chest, revealing the glowing blue crystal he had been so desperate to cling onto during his transformation in the ambulance. He brought it over his heart, then pointed to Anna's, chittering something she couldn't translate but still understood.

"Love," she sighed, smiling when he nodded. "You were able to stop her mind control because of love."

It was a truly powerful magic indeed. Foolish were those who tried to control it, dangerous were those who sought to manipulate it, and blessed were those who were able to find it in any of its many forms. True love broke curses, thawed eternal winters and made mortals strong.

True love, as Anna discovered, wouldn't turn her boyfriend back into a human as she tried kissing him on top of his fuzzy head, but it freed him from the command of the witch who turned him. If true love could do that, then it could also lead her to her sister and free her, too, from wherever she was being kept.

Anna believed it, and if she believed it, then it had to be true.


	9. Frozen Tears

_Thunder crashed beneath the hooves of two horses as they flew through the village. Determined to get home quickly, a single rider crouched low atop the white steed, holding his reigns while leading the other with a rope._

" _C'mon, Kjekk! Hyah!"_

 _Princess Anna kicked the horse in the side, urging haste as she turned to look back. Storm clouds encroached upon Arendelle, rolling over the mountains in a dark tide. A blizzard wasn't out of the question for this time of year, but Anna had to wonder if it was natural or not. One glance at Magnus without his rider made her feel ashamed that she even considered her sister as a cause for the storm._

 _Queen Elsa had regained some control over her powers during the holidays; whether because of the yuletide spirit or the love of her family, she wasn't sure. But after the New Year celebration, whatever progress she made, she lost. If anything, she had gotten worse._

 _Anna frowned as she rode across the bridge and through the front gates of the castle. Elsa deemed herself unable to make visits to the village, leaving the duty to her sister. Not that the princess minded, of course; she was always happy to spend time talking with her people and learn about their trades and hobbies. Lately, though, the villagers were expressing concerns for their queen's health. They understood that work kept her busy in the castle during autumn, but her absence after Christmas was alarming._

 _If only they knew what was going on behind closed doors. Anna dismounted and led the horses into the stable, about to untack them until she heard a rumbling sound coming from just outside the gates. She handed off the reigns to the stable keep and ran to the center of the courtyard, watching as a reindeer-drawn sled drifted through the snow and stopped between the frozen fountains._

 _Kristoff waved at her, smiling sheepishly as Elsa rose from her seat next to him and got off the sled. She left without saying a word, her eyes narrow and jaw set as she stalked towards the castle with a prominent flurry hovering around her shoulders. Anna stood back and watched her go; it was clear Elsa wasn't up for explaining her resentment so soon after her arrival._

 _When the doors of the castle slammed shut, Anna turned to look up at Kristoff. "What happened?" she asked, petting Sven on the head when he started sniffing her for carrots._

 _Kristoff shook his head as he jumped out and grabbed a bag of supplies from the sled. "Nothing."_

" _Uh, what do you mean, "Nothing"? Obviously someth—"_

" _No, that's just it," Kristoff shrugged. "Nothing. Grand Pabbie couldn't tell her anything about the prophecy or why her magic's giving her trouble. I mean, I can't blame her for being upset about it," he empathized. "She was doing so good and now all of a sudden she's losing it again. It's freaking her out."_

 _It was freaking all of them out. They all thought they understood the limits and capabilities of Elsa's magic, what caused it to go out of her control and what reigned it back in. Now it had taken such a drastic turn that nobody felt like they knew what was happening anymore. She couldn't seem to keep her magic contained no matter how hard she tried, accidentally freezing things over with a gentle brush of skin. Whatever she tried to cast was unfocused and clumsy; she had to resort to more traditional clothing when she couldn't get her ice dress to form the way she wanted it._

 _Anna could only imagine how alone she felt, especially after she admitted a few weeks ago that she wondered if anyone else shared her power. "I should talk to her."_

" _That's probably a very bad idea right now. I couldn't get her to say a word on the way back and I think she convinced herself that she's causing that storm," Kristoff said, pointing to the dark clouds in the distance. "You gotta give her space."_

 _Biting her lip, Anna looked to her sister's footprints in the snow. The imprints of her shoes were iced over, and from where Anna stood, she could see a small burst of blue magic on the front doors of the castle. "Yikes…" she whispered, cringing when Kristoff showed her the frost covered blanket he had brought for the ride to the valley; the fibers were so cold that the blanket felt like it could snap. "Okay… maybe you're right. She's not mad that Pabbie couldn't tell her anything, is she?"_

 _Kristoff shook his head. "Mad? No. Frustrated? You bet she is."_

* * *

" _I told you I don't need anything, Kai. Please, just go."_

 _The steward looked upon his charge in worry. He had seen the way she stormed through the castle, so eager to lock herself in her study as she had long ago locked herself in her room. He took a deep breath and sighed; it troubled him to see her falling back to old habits, and no matter what he tried, he couldn't get through to her._

" _Your Majesty, you are not well," Kai said, his statement proven by blue frost scattered across the queen's desk. The rest of the study had been spared from her unruly magic, but the same couldn't be said for the castle halls. He pursed his lips together, saddened as Elsa pressed her bare hands to her forehead; her gloves were frozen to her workspace. "Perhaps if you do something to distract yourself… I could bring the easel down from the library for you," he offered. "Or I could have a maid draw a warm bath for you."_

 _Elsa closed her eyes, trying to suppress a shiver as she considered. "No, that's not necessary."_

"… _Would you like to speak with your sister?"_

 _She opened her eyes and let her hands fall to the desk. Anna had been trying to help in every way she knew how, pushing the Wishing Star theory on her repeatedly and tiptoeing around her nerves whenever she was on edge. Each and every time they were together, though, Elsa was haunted by visions of the times she had hurt or failed her. Her magic would then spiral, ready to fling from her fingertips or tear another curse from her frozen heart._

" _Not now." She couldn't risk it. It was hard enough going to visit the trolls with Kristoff that afternoon without the fear of hurting him or Sven._

 _For her sake, Kai hid his frown behind a sympathetic smile. "Perhaps you will join her for dinner this evening?" he suggested. That was several hours away; she could surely calm down and be in control of herself by then._

" _I'll try to be there," she said with a hopeful smirk, "but for now, I'd just like some time alone. The council meeting is later this evening, so I suppose I'll see you then?"_

" _Of course, Your Majesty."_

 _He bowed to her and turned to leave. Elsa watched him go, impatience gnawing at her and begging him to hurry. When Kai finally stepped out and shut the door behind him, she shattered._

 _She collapsed against her desk, burying her head in her arms, gritting her teeth against the pulse of her magic as it threatened to make a dramatic escape. She felt as though it was being ripped from her, like someone was digging their claws through her very soul and forcing her magic to the surface. Where she once held onto her control as firmly as a block of ice, it now slipped through her fingers as tiny crystals, her grip nearly nonexistent._

 _She shuddered, trying to catch her breath as she looked to the window outside. The storm had finally arrived, sending the first snowflakes adrift and casting a dark shadow upon her kingdom. If it was here because of her, it was only going to get worse unless she did something to stop it._

 _Elsa rose from her desk and walked to the center of the room on unsteady feet. She thought back to several weeks ago, when Magnus chased her out of his stall and she fell to find gold among the straw. It was a message, just as the fjord painting was a stark reminder of someone she wished she'd forget._

" _Rumplestiltskin!" she called, voice cracking on the name as the ice in her veins shot to her fingertips. She clenched her fists to keep it at bay, looking around the room for the Dark One's inevitable arrival. When he didn't show, she started to pace the study, wondering if she had gone mad and imagined the gold in the stables. Anna didn't see it; maybe she_ was _going crazy._

 _Then again, only a madwoman would try summoning the Dark One to her domain for a second time._

" _Rumplestiltskin, I summon thee!"_

 _Her voice rang loud and clear through the small room. She held her breath, waiting, knowing she must have been heard. Standing still, she listened to the fire crackle in the hearth, and then to the chilling wind howling outside her window. It sent a violent shiver up her spine and she closed her eyes, fighting off her magic as it threatened release._

 _In that brief moment of darkness, she heard the floorboards creak behind her._

" _Dearie…"_

 _Elsa gasped when a hand touched her shoulder, and she spun around to smack it away. She backed towards the door, leaving frosted footprints behind as she stared wide-eyed at the demon she summoned. "R… Rumplestiltskin," she breathed, trying to regain her composure. "So you_ are _alive."_

 _Scraggly hair, odd textured skin… there was no doubt that the man who stood before her was indeed the Dark One. Something about him was off, though. He didn't smile in his typically amused way, nor did he belittle her for requesting his help once again. No, when the light struck his face in just the right way, he looked like he was in pain._

"… _Are you alright?" Elsa asked, unconcerned for him but for his ability to aid her._

 _His empty stare fixed on her and he grit his teeth, slowly shaking his head. "Spinning… spinning…," he mumbled, swaying on his feet. "Mind into madness… straw into gold. Spinning, spinning…"_

" _Rumplestiltskin, what are you—"_

" _Rumple Dumple isn't here. Rumple Dumple can't think clear. Too many thoughts… not enough gold."_

 _He continued to ramble and Elsa stood there, dumbstruck as to what she should do. The most powerful wizard in all the realm, the only person who could_ help _her, was a babbling mess and a mere shell of what he truly was. This was either a show or some cruel, sick joke; she wasn't laughing if it was either._

" _You contacted me," she snapped, finding her nerve and cutting his words short. "You wanted me to know you were alive, now I want to know why."_

"… _We need help."_

" _We", not "I". Elsa would have questioned his wording, but he lunged at her before she could ask. Tripping over herself, she fell back against the door and held her hand out, magic ready to fly when Rumplestiltskin stopped short of grasping her throat. He stared into her wide eyes and she saw a myriad of emotions in his: anger, sadness, confusion. He was desperate, doubly so considering he came to her and not his beloved Belle._

 _Rumplestiltskin's hand shook as he fought the urge to reach out and convince her to aid by force. "The Wicked Witch did this to us," he seethed, pointing to himself. "Kill Zelena, get the dagger."_

 _Elsa swallowed hard and shook her head. She believed Zelena deserved to be punished for her crimes in Arendelle, but not like that. "No… I can't. I won't kill anybody. I'm not a monster." So she said, but even now she felt her power dancing in her fingers. Her magic was ready to strike, and it took everything she had in face of her fear to hold it back._

 _Dismayed, Rumplestiltskin chose another route. "Then go to Misthaven," he bargained, using the alternate name for Snow White's kingdom. "Get the hat, collect the magic, sever the bond to the dagger. Misthaven… Misthaven… the hat. Get the hat."_

 _He sounded like a lunatic. If he truly wanted Elsa's help, then he'd have to give her something in exchange; she knew better after all the years of dealing with him not to help him for nothing. "Tell me the prophecy, and I'll see about fetching this hat of yours."_

 _Rumplestiltskin snapped his hand back and stumbled away, turning around and crashing into the desk. Elsa took a deep breath, thankful that her negotiating gave him a proper distraction. She removed herself from the door, scratching at her palms as Rumplestiltskin righted himself._

"… _You're too late," he sneered, catching her off guard. He pointed to the window, drawing her attention to the raging snow squall outside. Nothing could be seen for miles, not even the great fjord and mountains beyond. "You feel it, don't you, dearie? Itching in your hands… crawling in your skin. It's already started."_

 _Elsa faltered against his accurate observation. It wasn't a simple itch; it scratched all up her arms and down her back in waves that grew stronger as her heart began to race. "I can stop this," she said, mustering what little confidence she had left. "If you tell me what the prophecy says, I… I can figure this out."_

 _She suppressed a shiver as Rumplestiltskin looked over her desk. He snapped his fingers, lighting the candle she would read by. "What's the point of knowing?" he asked, drawing a spark from the flame. It hovered above his palm, growing bigger as he spoke. "The storm is already here. No, it's too late to know anything now. Too late! Too late!" he sang, bringing the flame dangerously close to a certain tome on the queen's desk. "Little Snow Queen is already too—"_

 _A wild burst of blue magic crossed the distance between them, snuffing out the flame and coating part of Rumplestiltskin's arm and the desk with a reckless explosion of frost. He whirled around and summoned another fireball to strike back, but it fizzled out when he saw his assailant. He could only stare at her._

 _Elsa held out her hand and panted, clearly struggling now as the tempest howled outside. She hadn't meant for her magic to cause such a mess; she only tried to snuff out the fire Rumplestiltskin toyed with before it burned her father's memoir._

" _Please," she begged, trying to catch her breath. Her heart thumped in her chest like a drum, ice running through her veins so sharp that she felt as though she was being stabbed from the inside out. Her hand frosted over as she closed it into a fist, desperately trying to keep any more of her magic from escaping her grasp. "Help me. What's happening to me…?"_

 _He looked at her in pity and stepped back, reeling, holding his head as the storm continued to rage. "No… it doesn't matter if you knew." He stared at Elsa with wide eyes, mirroring her hopeless look as he sank to his knees. "I can't help you if you can't help us. The voices… there are too many voices."_

"… _Rumplestiltskin?"_

 _Her plea was drowned in the noise. The shutters outside rattled in the wind, throwing off her concentration, and when Rumplestiltskin began rambling and banging his fists against the floor, she almost lost her precious grip on her restraint._

 _Elsa took one timid step forward and ice swirled beneath her feet, coating the floorboards and threatening to encroach up the walls. She was losing it. Rumplestiltskin was right; he couldn't help her, but they both knew someone who could. She turned back to leave; she had to find Anna and—_

 _She stopped, slipped on the ice and fell to her knees as the door to her study froze over, trapping her inside. The ice beneath her cracked and splintered where she knelt, and she looked to the rest of the room, helpless as thick patches of frost crawled up the walls around her._

" _No one can stop what you will do," Rumplestiltskin seethed in a moment of clarity. Elsa only glanced at him, scared and in too much pain to look at him properly. "Your frozen heart bends you to its will just as I'm unable to resist whoever holds the dagger. We're slaves to our magic, dearie. It's useless to fight against it."_

 _With a trembling hand, Elsa clutched at her heart. The very thing that allowed her to love and feel love was the source of so much danger and devastation. What hurt the most was that she could no longer trust herself to stay in control of that power, even when she was surrounded by those who loved her unconditionally._

" _Born of cold and winter air, little Snow Queen, foul and fair," Rumplestiltskin mockingly sang, fighting off the voices in his head with the only thing that seemed clear to him at the time. Elsa grunted as another pang ran through her heart and she crumbled, weak and defeated from fighting her magic for so long. "Powerless against the storm, little Snow Queen can't stay warm."_

 _Covering her ears, Elsa folded over and pressed her forehead to the frozen floor in an attempt to block out the song and the sound of her magic spiraling out of control. Still, Rumplestiltskin's voice broke the through the noise, and Elsa couldn't help the pained sob that burst from her chest when she heard the last verse._

" _Little Princess tries and tries… little Snow Queen, let her die."_

* * *

 _Another evening, another dinner without Elsa. Anna sighed; that was the_ fourth _time this week._

 _She couldn't blame her for not coming. Elsa wasn't feeling well and she didn't have much of an appetite when she was struggling with her magic. It was times like these when Anna wished she had some kind of cure-all for magical distress, but there was nothing._

 _She missed the playful banter at the table. With Olaf missing as well, the meal was quiet with just her and Kristoff. They both tried to keep the conversation light, but it was hard when their worried thoughts turned elsewhere._

 _Kai's unexpected arrival during the meal didn't make anything better. He burst through the doors, alarm clear on his face as he stared at the couple sitting alone. "Princess Anna, come quickly! It's your sister!"_

 _Anna tripped as she scrambled out of her seat, running out the doors with Kristoff at her heels. Kai kept up with them as long as he could, telling them that Elsa never arrived to the council meeting. Up to this point, she had never been late to one of those meetings, let alone completely missed one. "I tried knocking on her door, but she won't answer."_

 _Anna pushed back her worst fears as she ran, hoping that Elsa wasn't hurt. When she and Kristoff came to the hall of the queen's study, a sizable group of staff members gathered outside the door, all whispering to each other and eyeing the glaring ice on the walls. Olaf was there, knocking on the door and trying to shout through it to the other side. He gasped when he saw Anna approach with Kristoff, and he bounced on his feet, knowing they could help. "We can't get it open," he said. "I think maybe it froze and she can't thaw it."_

" _Well, she's gonna have to try!" Anna pounded on the door, hearing ice cracking just on the other side of it. "Elsa! It's Anna! Is… is everything okay?" She pressed her ear to the wood, listening for something,_ anything _that her sister was alright inside._

 _All she heard was a faint whimper._

" _Kristoff…!" she gasped, backing away from the door in horror, fearing the worst. Kristoff put a reassuring hand on her shoulder and stepped in front of her. He gripped the door handle with both hands, took a step back and then lunged forward, striking the door with his muscled shoulder._

 _He grit his teeth against the dull pain, encouraged by the sound of ice shattering on the other side. He stepped back and charged the door again, getting it open enough for him to look inside, but not enough for someone his size to enter. Anna squeaked past him and slipped through the gap he made, disappearing into the room just before he saw the thick ice that coated everything inside._

 _Anna slipped and fell as soon as she entered, sliding on her back and getting a brief introduction to the frozen room as she collided against the front of the desk. It was absolutely frigid, not unlike her sister's ice palace, but the ice wasn't as beautiful. It was uneven wherever it covered the floor, with ugly cracks webbing through the surface._

 _It all looked like one giant explosion caused by months of stress, frustration and magical turmoil, and yet the cause had yet to be found. "Elsa?" Anna called, looking around the room. Her sister was obviously here, but she occupied none of the chairs or the couch. Cautiously, Anna stood up and slid around the desk, holding onto it for balance._

 _When she came around to the other side, she was mortified._

 _Thick, sharp spikes of ice jutted out from the wall, piercing the oak doors of the matriarch's workspace with deadly strength. Huddled beneath the desk was Elsa herself. Her knees were drawn up to her chest and she held her trembling hands against her heart as she cried, staring straight at three separate spikes which threatened to impale her._

 _Anna didn't wait to ask what had happened; she acted immediately. Bracing herself against the desk, she swiftly and firmly brought her boot down on the spikes aimed at her sister, snapping off the finer, dangerous points and effectively blunting them._

" _St…Stay away!" Elsa begged as Anna reached for her. She breathed hard, on the verge of hyperventilating when Anna put a hand on her shoulder. "Anna please!" she screamed. "Don't touch me!"_

" _I gotta get you out—"_

" _STOP!"_

 _Anna froze, crouched down beneath the desk with her hands hovering over her sister as a blunt spike of ice thrust against her back. Elsa blanked, afraid she had done the unthinkable again, and collapsed against the desk interior when she realized she hadn't hurt her._

 _Breathing out, Anna smiled in relief, thankful that her quick thinking kept both her and Elsa safe. "It's gonna be okay," she said calmly. "Forever frozen, I promise."_

" _B-But—"_

" _You're not gonna hurt me."_

 _Elsa stared into Anna's eyes, thinking of the many times when she_ did _hurt her, when her magic lashed out beyond her control. Even now, just being in the same room with her, Anna was in danger… but she had come to help her. Anna was here to rescue Elsa from herself._

 _Scared, tentative and trembling, Elsa slowly reached out for Anna's arm. She hesitated, snapping her hand back at a second thought, but Anna crossed the distance and gripped both of her forearms. "You're alright," Anna said, keeping her voice calm and quiet, feeling relieved as the ice against her back retreated to the wall and her sister crawled out from under the desk. She wrapped an arm around Elsa's waist, hugging her side as she hoisted her to her feet, supporting her fragile frame as she walked her to the fireplace on the side of the room._

" _A-Anna… I can't thaw it," Elsa admitted as she took in the sad sight of her study. "I'm trying…"_

" _No, no, no, it's okay. Don't worry about that." Carefully, Anna set Elsa down to sit on the rug. She stood up with a smile and put her hands on her hips. "I'll just make a fire and that should take care of it. It'll make you feel better, too!"_

 _She pivoted on her heel, about to go to the fireplace until she saw the state it was in._

"… _And the logs are frozen. Well then. Um…"_

" _Anna…"_

" _Stay right there. Just… hold on a second."_

 _Elsa hugged her knees, watching as Anna went to the door and poked her head out into the hall. She was whispering to someone, probably Kristoff by the sound of it, and when Elsa looked to the bottom of the door, she saw Olaf standing there, trying to peer in and see her. She buried her head in her arms in shame; she didn't want_ anyone _to see her like this._

 _The door remained open, but the murmurs outside of it went away. Anna went to the fireplace, kicking the logs inside, trying to wedge them loose. "Well that's a weird sight," she smiled, and then frowned when she looked back and saw her sister huddling into herself. "I mean, it's not_ weird, _weird, but… y'know, you don't see burnt logs frozen together every day."_

 _With one final kick, the logs broke free from the hearth and Anna leaned in to pick them up, tossing them to the side of the room one by one. When the last one struck the ice on the floor, she stilled, hearing a metallic chime fall along with it._

 _She turned back and looked down, finding Elsa's golden crown resting at her feet. Elsa stared at it, exhaustion clear on her face as she rested her chin on her knees._

" _Elsa, what…?"_

" _I don't want it," Elsa stated, her voice deep and hoarse after a long and trying day. "I don't deserve to wear it anymore."_

 _Anna picked up the crown, staring at the blue jewel in the center. "Yeah, you do. Why are you saying this all of a sudden?" she asked, sitting down next to Elsa when she buried herself in her arms again. "I know it's hard right now with your powers and everything, but… that doesn't mean you don't deserve this. Besides, you need the enchantment on it, anyway."_

"… _Zelena should have ripped my heart out when she had the chance."_

 _The muffled confession almost made Anna drop the crown. "Don't say that."_

 _Elsa picked her head up to wipe away her tears, staring angrily at the frozen hearth. "I wouldn't have my magic. People wouldn't be afraid of me."_

" _And Zelena would be making you do terrible things like Cora did. Would that_ really _be better than this?" Anna asked, gesturing to the frozen room. "If she had your heart,_ she'd _be in control, not us. We can still figure this out."_

 _Could they? Rumplestiltskin already said that they were too late; finding out any information about the prophecy was useless now. The last verse of his mocking song repeated over and over again in Elsa's mind, and she couldn't see any way past the destiny she was doomed to fulfill. "I've tried everything," she confessed past a sob. "Nothing's worked. I can't… I just can't do this anymore."_

 _To see her sister this way hurt Anna more than she would know. She thought of all the times Elsa reveled in her magic, how proud she was of what she could do since she was a little girl and now as an adult. Hearing her wish it was gone… it made Anna sad, even moreso because this wasn't the first time she was hearing it. Ice magic was a gift, but it was a terrible burden as well._

 _It was Anna's job as her sister and right hand to help lift that burden, just as it was her job to lighten her mantle of queen. She left Elsa's side for just a moment to answer a knock at the door, smiling at Kristoff and giving him a peck on the cheek for bringing fresh logs for the fireplace. She placed them in the hearth and set to work on lighting them, and when the first spark caught, she went back to the door to be presented with more gifts. Gerda handed her two mugs of piping hot chocolate, and Olaf passed over a pair of blankets along with a wish for a good night. Anna bid him the same and left with a promise that Elsa would be well in the morning._

 _She draped one of the blankets over Elsa's shoulders and tapped her on the head, meeting her wide stare with a smile._

" _Take this," she said, handing her a mug of hot chocolate. "It'll help warm your hands up. And, y'know, actually drink it, too."_

 _Elsa stared down at the drink, feeling the heat from the mug fight away the itch of magic at her fingertips. The fireplace brought warmth back to her nose and cheeks, temporarily taking away the frantic feeling she had been running in all day._

 _Anna sat down next to her, wrapped in her own blanket with the second mug of chocolate. She took a sip, wishing she had just a fragment of her sister's ice powers to cool the burn on her tongue. Sitting here like this, huddled together with their favorite drink in front of a fire, it reminded her of innocent winter days long ago when she and Elsa were just children._

 _She frowned and bit her lip. Things were so much easier then. When they returned to Arendelle from Storybrooke, she thought those days would return: she thought they had found their happy ending, but she was wrong. There was nothing happy about one sister being on the verge of a total breakdown while the other remained clueless on how to help her._

"… _I don't know exactly what you're going through," Anna started, thumbing the lip of her mug, "and I probably never will, but… no matter how bad you're feeling, I want you to remember that I'm here for you, Elsa. I always have been." She reached for the crown sitting on the rug and passed it over, urging Elsa to take it. "You deserve this even if you think you don't. Don't throw it away, and don't throw anything else away because of what's happening. We're going to get through this."_

 _The crown glowed in the light of the flame, a clear symbol of the royal born to bear its weight. Elsa hesitated to take it again, and only found the strength to when she looked in her sister's bright eyes._

" _Forever frozen," Anna smiled. "Always."_

 _Elsa set the crown in her lap and held onto her mug with both hands, wishing it were warmer. Forever frozen… that was the promise they made many years ago as children, that no matter what problems they had, they would face them together. It was a promise Elsa constantly forgot, wanting to keep Anna away for her own safety than allow her to help and get hurt in the process._

 _Anna was always the one to keep that promise alive, and she wouldn't stop now. She was always there for her, if not by her side then somewhere close by. But this time… this time was much different. With the prophecy and the way Elsa's magic exploded at every light touch, she wasn't in the right environment to comfortably understand what was happening to her._

 _She took a sip of her chocolate and set the mug down, hiding her hands beneath the blanket. The warm fire quelled her antsy powers, but she couldn't comprehend them when things were calm. She had to let them go and allow herself to feel what was making them spiral out of her reach._

" _I need to go to the North Mountain."_

" _What? Elsa, no."_

 _Elsa pulled the blanket tight, staring at the fire with wide eyes as frost seeped from her fingertips. "I can't stay here," she whimpered. "I'm… I'm too dangerous."_

" _Elsa…"_

" _I don't want anyone to get hurt, I just want this to_ stop…! _"_

 _Numb, Anna felt like a ghost when she reached out and took her sobbing sister into her arms. Her touch couldn't soothe her, and she was helpless to watch as Elsa's tears froze upon her cheeks. Anna wanted nothing more than to protect her from this pain and fear, to have it all materialize and then stick a sword in it to cast it off into oblivion, but she couldn't. She couldn't do anything but sit by and watch Elsa suffer alone, and realizing that brought her to the end of her rope._

 _She hugged Elsa tight, hoping she knew that she wasn't as alone as she thought she was. "It's okay," she whispered, trying to hold back her tears. One escaped to open the floodgates and pooled at her chin, freezing instantly when it dropped off and fell in her skirt. "If this is something you have to do, then you have to do it. Just… take tomorrow to rest first, okay?"_

 _Elsa nodded and collapsed in her sister's arms, burying her face in her shoulder as her grief caught up to her. Anna never let go, not even as a soft flurry surrounded them and stilled. The bright snowflakes suspended in mid-air, a sharp contrast to the blizzard outside._

" _I'm so sorry, Elsa."_

* * *

 _The next day was quiet compared to the last. Elsa spent most of it in a daze as she packed for her trip, feeling physically there but mentally exhausted and gone. Anna stayed by her side everywhere she went, helping her attend to concerns within the castle and hold one last council meeting before her absence._

 _Then the matter arose about who would accompany her for the journey._

" _I'm going with you!"_

" _No, Anna, you have to stay here. Arendelle needs you and I don't know how long I'll be gone."_

" _Take Kristoff, then."_

" _He's too busy harvesting at the lake and helping the ice fishermen in the fjord."_

 _Exasperated, Anna reached for her final option. "At_ least _take Olaf with you. Please? I just don't want you to go alone, and I'm sure he'll want to see Marshmallow and the others."_

 _It was the only way Anna would let her go without another argument, and so Elsa agreed. She spent the rest of the day in her study, finishing up what work she couldn't complete the day before and catching Anna up on recent events just in case they received a missive from their allied kingdoms. By the evening, Elsa was confined to her bedroom on strict sisterly orders to get a full night of sleep. She couldn't go against her wishes even if she tried._

 _Early the next morning, Elsa stood at the base of the central staircase, checking and rechecking the satchel of food and supplies she was bringing with her to make the trip and avoid having to rely on foraging for nourishment. Anna was surprised to see her wearing her ice dress, having thought that her powers were too far out of her grasp to make it correctly, but every crystal and snowflake was placed in perfect recreation, perhaps during a moment of clarity._

" _Do you have a canteen?" Anna asked, wanting to make sure her sister was prepared._

" _It's full," Elsa noted, spotting the canteen in her satchel._

" _Matches?"_

" _Got 'em."_

" _Bandages and ointment?"_

" _Just in case."_

" _Fishing pole?"_

" _Uh, no, I don't think—"_

" _Frying pan?"_

" _Anna—"_

" _Playing cards? Snow globe? Extra undies—"_

" _Anna!" Elsa yelled, blushing as Olaf looked up at her, wondering if the small satchel could hold everything Anna thought she needed. "I'm okay! I've done this before without bringing anything, remember?"_

" _I know, but…"_

" _Queen Elsa! Just a moment!" called a frantic voice from the hall. It was Gerda. She ran in, carrying something bright purple in her arms; it shined in the light of the lamps, glistening like the frozen lake in the early light of morning. "You mustn't forget your cloak, Your Majesty!"_

 _Elsa gulped, putting her hands up as she eyed the shiny material while Gerda unfolded it. It was one of her first experiments when she discovered she could manipulate the color of the ice she created, but the odd purple she'd concocted was unnecessarily bright. She thought she'd gotten rid of the thing, but apparently not. "Uh, no, it's okay. The cold doesn't bother me, remember?"_

" _Oh nonsense! You're hiking up a mountain after a snowstorm in a dress and heels made of ice," huffed Gerda as she draped the cloak over Elsa's shoulders and sealed the clasp around her neck, nearly choking her as she pulled it tight. "You don't want to get sick like you did over summer."_

" _Oh, that's right! Medicine!" Anna exclaimed, snapping her fingers. "You didn't pack that, did you? Wait right here, I'll go get some from the doctor. Just in case, you know?" She pivoted on her heel, about to run out the door to visit the family doctor when she was pulled back by a frigid hand around her wrist._

 _Elsa let go, shaking her head, but she was smiling at the kind gesture. "It's only for a few days," she reminded for the umpteenth time. "I'll be fine. If something bad happens I'll have Marshmallow bring me back home."_

"… _This'd be a lot easier if we still had cell phones."_

" _I need to do this. And besides, I don't think we'd get service in the mountains anyway."_

 _Anna giggled, though not for long as reality quickly sobered her cheerful expression. If Elsa didn't leave soon, she'd lose the few precious hours of daylight winter spared for traveling. "Okay, well… oh, wait! I almost forgot!" She reached into her pocket and pulled out something small, handing it out to her sister. It was a round, clear gem, but when she held it up, it gleamed in the light from the windows. "I want you to have this," she said, placing it in Elsa's palm and closing her fingers around it._

" _What is it?"_

"… _I don't know," Anna shrugged. "When we got up to go to bed the other night, it fell out of my skirt. I think maybe it was part of one of my rings and it broke off in my pocket or something." She crossed her arms and faced her sister with a smirk. "Don't lose it! I want it back when you come home."_

 _With a nod, Elsa smiled and conjured her magic, having enough control at the time to attach the gem to a thin chain of ice, turning it into a very simple necklace. "I'll give it back once I figure this out," Elsa promised as she put the necklace on. She maneuvered the gem so the chain was beneath the clasp of her cloak, ensuring its safety during the trip._

 _Anna stepped in for a hug, leaving it quickly to avoid making her sister uncomfortable with the contact. "Be safe," she said, waving as Elsa started for the door. "And good luck! Olaf, you better take care of her!"_

 _The little snowman bounced along, turning his torso backwards to face her while his legs kept up with Elsa. He saluted Anna with one of his stick arms, though his wide smile lacked any sort of military discipline. "You can count on me!" he said, getting giggles from the royals in the room before he turned and looked up at Elsa, taking her hand when it was offered to him. "C'mon Elsa! Let's go see my brothers!"_

 _Anna had to resist calling out to them again, afraid that if she did, she'd never let them go. She bit her lip and hugged her elbow as Elsa pushed open the large door at the end of the hall, not at all minding when Gerda placed a hand on her shoulder._

" _Your sister will be just fine, Anna," she said softly, excusing formalities to be sincere to the girl under her charge. "Elsa is strong, even stronger now that she has your support."_

" _I know that. I trust her but… I'm scared for her." Anna bit her lip, turning to Gerda with wide eyes as the door slammed shut. "I've never seen her so afraid since that day we fought Peter Pan. Everything was just getting back to normal, and now… I don't want to see her get hurt anymore. She's been through enough."_

 _Gerda nodded. "You both have, dear. Everyone goes through their trials in life. This is just another one she has to face and she's dealing with it the best she can. All we can do is be there for her when she needs us and help her get through it."_

 _Being Elsa's main supporter was a role Anna had readily accepted when she first learned about the hierarchy at three years old. She wanted nothing more than to be involved, to walk with her every step of the way during her challenges and catch her when she fell. Some things, as she still learned, Elsa had to do on her own. This was one of them._

 _All Anna could do for now was support her from home and take care of Arendelle while she was away._

" _Whatever you're looking for up there, I hope you find it, Elsa."_


	10. I Scream, You Scream

"…So Zelena's planning _what_ now?"

Anna sat on the edge of a desk in the sheriff's office, listening to Regina explain her theory on the Wicked Witch's ultimate plan.

"She has a symbol of courage from David, and we'll assume that she's getting a symbol of wisdom from Mr. Gold," Regina mused. "Robin Hood is hiding my heart from her, but if she gets it, then all she needs is a symbol of innocence to complete her time travel spell."

"And that symbol is… Mary-Margaret's baby…?" Anna cringed when both Emma and Regina nodded at her. "That's just wrong."

"Yeah, but as much as I hate to admit it, it means that we still have time," Emma said. "Zelena can't cast her spell until that baby is born, so until then we have to do what we can to prepare."

A proactive plan was a good plan, and Anna was ready to jump in and do her part. She stood up from the desk and bounced on her toes, ready to get started. "All right, what can I do?"

Regina crossed her arms and smirked. "You can watch Henry for the afternoon."

"… _What?_ Oh, come on!" Anna looked to Emma for help and only got a sheepish grin in return. "I just found out the other day that Zelena is for sure hiding Elsa somewhere, and you want me to forget about that and _babysit?!_ "

"Anna, it's just for the afternoon," Emma told her, trying to calm her down. "We all want to find Elsa, but we have to be smart about this. Zelena has Mr. Gold's dagger; we can't just rush in."

"Her magic is stronger than mine, too," Regina added. She rubbed her shoulder, still sore from the showdown she had with her half-sister several nights ago. "The only chance we have at beating her is if I can teach Emma how to use her magic. Henry _can't_ find out about this. He won't understand."

It made sense why they were asking her to look after him; everyone else was otherwise occupied, and she heard Henry complain in the diner the other day that Killian did nothing but take him out on boat trips whenever he watched him. He needed someone relatively normal to hang out with, but she still wasn't thrilled about the idea.

She was more focused on everything Zelena said and did when she faced her at the farmstead. She held an urn through the whole encounter, cradled it rather like it was a precious, fragile artifact. It was important, but Anna had no idea what it was or where it came from. She was about to argue her point on why she couldn't help them, but one sharp look from Regina silenced her before she could even squeak out a word.

"You owe me a favor, freckles. I'm collecting."

* * *

So it wasn't the _worst_ way to spend her day off from work, but her impatience to get back to the investigation made time slow to a crawl. The fact that Henry wasn't quite himself didn't help, either.

Like Olaf and Marshmallow, Henry had grown much during his year away from Storybrooke. He was still a smart, quick-witted boy who enjoyed tales of fantasy and adventure, but his love for fairy tales was gone, replaced now by stories crafted in video games, graphic novels and movies.

He was good friends with Anna during the first curse, and their friendship continued long after her memories returned. He looked up to her like an older sister, but now he only saw a stranger whenever they met. He even referred to her as "Mom's friend" before she took him on the town tour that afternoon.

 _Ick._ That made her sound _old._

Anna did her best to make the tour interesting for him, showing off all her favorite places to shop (including Oaken's General and Consignment, of course), and even a few places that Nina favored during the curse. Henry was thrilled when she took him to the classic arcade, and he later dared her to sneak up into the clock tower when they stopped at the library.

After the tour was over, though, Anna realized she didn't have much else to show him that would hold his interest. She decided to take a chance by going for a walk down one of Storybrooke's many nature trails, but it resulted in boredom for the both of them. They had trouble finding a topic to talk about, so Henry filled the void by telling her all about a video game he'd been recently playing.

It was something about angels, demons and a guy named "Tyrael". Anna lost interest when Henry started talking about the game mechanics, but she grew concerned when he stopped talking altogether.

He looked around the woods, confused. "Hey, where are we going? We walked past that sign three times already."

"…No we didn't."

"It says "Nature Trail Starts Here". I'm pretty sure we did."

Anna couldn't tell him that she was walking them in circles to kill time. Emma wasn't due back at the sheriff's station for another two hours, and Anna had no idea how to keep Henry occupied until then. The conversation was turning stiff and painful, and everything she suggested to do was met with an unenthused shrug. The nature trail was all she had until a dark, looming shadow soared overhead.

She slowed her pace, knowing she'd alert Henry if she just stopped walking, and scanned the dense pine branches above. If it was a flying monkey, they were screwed; she didn't have her sword and they wouldn't make it back to the main road fast enough to get help. She knew it was a risk bringing him into the woods, but she thought they would have been safe this far from the town line.

When she finally found what cast the shadow she held her breath; it was a flying monkey alright, but it was thankfully one that she was familiar with. His sandy fur stood out among the dark colors of the forest, but he hid among the branches to disguise himself from Henry's sight.

Kristoff, bless his little monkey soul, was Anna's guardian angel ever since the night he broke free from Zelena's control. He followed her whenever she left the cabin to make sure she was safe, and patrolled the woods surrounding his home at night to protect his sleeping family. Now as he perched high above the trail, he waved his paws at Anna, warning her to go back towards town.

She never questioned his judgement; if he was telling her to leave, then that meant danger lingered somewhere close by.

"Hey, you know what? Let's go get some ice cream," Anna said, pivoting and marching towards the road with a sense of urgency. "It'll taste good after all that walking."

Henry shrugged. "Sure, I guess. Ice cream in winter isn't weird or anything... are we going to that place at the harbor?"

"Nah, I know a parlor that sells _way_ better ice cream than that," Anna bragged. "It's like it's made with _magic_ or something."

* * *

 _ **Shhkt!**_

 _She dropped her hands to her sides and stared at the wall. Sharp, thick spears of ice pierced the smooth surface, striking deep against her desire to prevent further damage to the palace. The magic she cast extended beyond her grasp, and she realized that if someone had unwittingly fallen in her path… the mere thought of it made her sick._

 _Elsa swallowed hard and turned away, but even then she could not escape the destruction she wrought in the heart of her ice palace. The room, once bare, now resembled an obstacle course with spikes and pillars stretching to all corners of the sanctuary. Cracks in the floor encroached upon the giant snowflake within, and anything she created, sculptures, targets or otherwise, was made of ugly, cloudy ice. It was a clear reflection of the turmoil that had been hounding her for weeks._

 _She backed into a wall at the side of the room and sank to the floor, covering her mouth with her hand as she stared at the chaos all over again._

"… _I can't do this."_

 _Only three days passed since she returned to the North Mountain, and yet she was convinced that there was no cure to her magic's instability. Her utter loss of control during the storm several nights ago, along with Rumplestiltskin's unannounced visit, made her believe that her prophecy had already begun._

 _It made complete sense. She had trouble concentrating ever since her first slip-up at the council meeting, attributed to a relentless throbbing noise in her head that persisted every time she tried to clear it. The inability to focus made her feel distressed, and the fight to try to grasp clarity again left her exhausted. Olaf and Marshmallow did their best to distract her, but they could only help so much._

 _Even the light of Anna's gem faded in Elsa's predicament. It had been given to her in faith and love upon a belief that she would come out of her retreat triumphant. Now it hung heavy around her neck, a constant reminder of yet another promise she would inevitably break. She could_ not _go home like this; she wouldn't. This ice palace, her sanctum of freedom, was going to be her prison if she didn't figure out something soon._

 _Elsa drew her knees up to her chest and buried her head in her arms. At least here, the only person who could be hurt was herself, and she had plenty experience with pain to know that it would only be a matter of time until she was numb to it again._

 _These thoughts threatened to drown her, swirling like a raging whirlpool in her mind. But through the noise and darkness, Elsa heard a peculiar squeak come from the far side of the room._

 _She perked her head up, thinking she might have imagined it until she heard it again. A tiny snowman hopped up on the base of an ice spike near the staircase, looking around as another jumped up to join it._

 _Elsa sighed as they made their way across the room. "What are you doing here?" she asked, opening her arms to receive the snowgies as they ran at her. "I thought I told you two to stay downstairs with the others?"_

 _They tackled her stomach in harmless excitement, enjoying a hug before she set them in her lap. The snowgies tried to give her an explanation, squeaking over each other like they couldn't get their words out fast enough. Elsa looked down at them, puzzled as she couldn't translate what they were trying to say._

 _One of them gave up and sat down, pouting at her with wide, coal eyes. It looked frustrated._

 _Elsa managed a small smile. "I know it's my birthday, Liz" she started, trying to ignore the other snowgie as it climbed up to her shoulder. "And I know you all want to celebrate, but… I just need some time."_

 _She cringed;_ _she was going to have nothing_ but _time if she didn't make a breakthrough soon._

 _Her worried thoughts gripped her again until the snowgie on her shoulder jumped onto her head to distract her. It tapped its small round feet, enjoying the view of the icy obstacle course of spikes and pillars from its new perch. With an air of confidence, it squeaked three times, drawing Elsa's confused stare. The snowgie leaned over and met her eyes, smiling upside down as it repeated the phrase. Whatever it was trying to say, it sounded familiar._

"… _Let it go?" Elsa guessed. The snowgie nodded, and she looked back to the room, dumbstruck. "I think I already did, George."_

 _He hopped into her lap and opened his mouth, about to squeak an explanation until a tremor shook the ice palace and cut him off. The three looked around, wondering what happened until they peered through the floor and saw a white figure crossing the foyer below them. The angry voice that roared up the stairway clued them in to the source of the quake._

" _GO AWAY!" Marshmallow's voice bellowed._

 _Olaf was heard trying to reign him back. "Marshmallow, wait! Calm down!"_

 _Either the boys were having an argument, or something set the younger one off. Regardless, Elsa didn't have time to sit and sulk when the strongest of her snowmen threatened to bring the palace down. Liz and George scrambled into motion as Elsa got to her feet. They ran ahead, showing her the easiest and quickest route to navigate her magical mishaps and get to the staircase. Once there, the snowgies jumped on the railing and slid down to the main floor, Elsa following close behind as fast as her legs would carry her._

 _When she came to the upper landing, she paused to assess the situation. Marshmallow was glaring at the front doors of the palace, baring ice fangs and claws while Olaf tugged at his knee. Meanwhile, the other snowgies stood around watching, trying to squeak over each other, confused on what to do. The noise only added to the chaos in Elsa's head, and she put her fingers to her temples in a vain attempt to think through and drown it all out._

" _Enough!" she yelled, throwing her hands down at her sides with the command. She didn't feel the magic that escaped her fingertips from the motion, nor did she hear when the ice spikes sprouted behind her, but the sight of it stilled every snowgie in the room. They stared in silence, and Marshmallow and Olaf turned back to look at her as she descended the curved staircase. "What is going on here?"_

 _Olaf let go of Marshmallow's ice-capped knee, falling to the floor on his rear. "I saw somebody outside," he said, stopping Elsa dead in her tracks. "I ran in to tell Marshmallow, but he got mad and—"_

"… _We were followed…?"_

 _She couldn't help the instinctive thought that the outsider was an assassin. Likely sent from the Southern Isles, King Servi must have refused her claim that the early winter sent to his kingdom was natural, not magic. She never could convince him of it before snowstorms froze the ports to both of their kingdoms._

 _Olaf stared at her, oblivious to the outrageous, worried thoughts running through her head. "Well, they_ seem _friendly," he shrugged, looking up at Marshmallow and completely missing the horror on Elsa's face when she saw a white figure walking up the steps of the ice bridge outside. "She's all alone, too. Hey, maybe she wants to be friends!"_

 _Elsa remained unconvinced, too focused on the looming danger to notice Olaf waddling towards the doors. George's squeak snapped her back to attention and she spotted him reaching for the handles. "Olaf, wait!" she cried, running towards him with an outstretched hand. "Don't—"_

 _Marshmallow stepped in before she could reach him, but the golem only made things worse. He grabbed his brother by the waist and pulled him back, accidentally helping him open the doors to invite the intruder inside. Elsa slid to a stop in the open doorway, unsure what to do now that the stranger ascended the last few steps of the ice bridge._

 _It was a woman, unarmed and unaccompanied as she stepped up onto the final platform. She wore a white gown with a cape to match and walked barefoot, braving the ice and snow with a confident smile. That confidence, however, faded when she saw Elsa standing in the doorway, flanked on all sides by an army of miniature snowmen. Her mouth parted as they blinked back at her; whatever her purpose was, she seemed unsure of it now._

 _No one moved. No one said a word, and not even a squeak came from one of the snowgies. Still in Marshmallow's grasp, Olaf leaned over and tried to see the stranger from Elsa's perspective. "You know… she looks a_ lot _like you," he whispered in awe._

 _Elsa noted the similarities and spotted the differences, too. But the one thing that stood out most about the woman was that her dress glistened in the winter sun like ice._

 _The stranger took a timid step forward. "Elsa… do you remember who I am?"_

* * *

Sarah Fisher was a quiet woman, older, and from what Anna gathered before the second curse, she lived alone and ran _Any Given Sundae_ by herself. She was kind enough and more than generous with her sundae sizes, but something about her was a little… off.

It could have been because of the way she spoke. Her words were soft and carefully chosen, somehow always lacking a distinct emotion to back up what she said. Anna didn't speak with her much, but she could never quite tell when Sarah was happy, or if she ever was. It was like the emotional switch in her brain was turned off or broken; her brief smiles consistently felt far from genuine.

She was good at faking it when she had to, though, handling Henry's ice cream order as pleasant as anyone else with an ounce of hospitality. "I think you'll find that my rocky road is the best you can get in Maine," she smiled as she handed Henry a cone of her specialty. "And what about you, Anna? What would you like to try today?"

Anna put her hands in her pockets and rocked back on her heels as she looked at her options in the display case. Ice cream sounded good back on the nature trail, but now that she was here, she felt uneasy for some reason. It didn't sound as appetizing as it did thirty minutes ago.

"Carrot sherbet?" Sarah suggested. "I remember Kristoff was fond of that one."

"That's because Kristoff's a carrot-holic…" Anna said, wrinkling her nose.

"Hmm… why not go with Elsa's favorite, then? Mint chocolate chip is a staple."

Anna was about to agree until it dawned on her that Elsa only visited this shop once before Storybrooke Sarah managed to memorize her order from that one time was alarming, not to mention creepy.

Anna blinked, shaking her braided head. "…I'll stick with my usual," she said, feeling parched when she saw Sarah's unnerving smirk.

"One scoop of double chocolate fudge, coming right up."

With a meager smile, Anna took a step back and looked around the shop as Sarah made her order. The parlor hadn't changed much from what she remembered, keeping its quaint and traditional atmosphere with blue striped walls. Along those walls were several green speech bubbles advertising available ice cream flavors, and though they added some whimsy to the place, it was subdued by an alarming amount of mirrors. Those were new.

Henry didn't seem to mind the décor, nor did he notice that Anna was feeling uncomfortable standing in Sarah's presence. "Hey, you know, I heard my mom talking about someone named Elsa the other day. Same person?"

"Probably. She's my sister," Anna explained with a proud smirk. "Remember those paintings we saw in Oaken's shop? She made all of those."

"Oh, wow."

"She's quite the artist," Sarah added, drawing their attention back to the counter. She looked up at Anna as she scooped her ice cream, staring straight through her with a frigid gaze. "By the way, how _is_ Elsa? Is she home yet?"

Anna swallowed hard, racing to find a way to tell her the truth while disguising it for Henry's sake. "She's… she's still in Boston," she said quickly, watching as Sarah's neutral expression soured. "She's gone by herself on some kind of self-discovery trip or something… but she should be back soon!"

She was kidding herself; if Elsa _could_ come home, she would have done so already.

"Are you sure that's why she left?" Sarah's brows drew together, confused and angered that Anna's lie implied that Elsa was selfish. "She's not the kind of person who would go off on her own just for that. Someone must have driven her away."

"Maybe it was an art critic," Anna shrugged. "There's one in town that's a mean 'ol _witch;_ I bet _she_ had something to do with it."

Sarah grit her teeth, unamused by the ignorant claim that Zelena was the cause of the problem. "Anna, did you ever stop to think that maybe Elsa left because she felt betrayed by someone she loves?"

Anna opened her mouth to retort and closed it, silenced when she saw Sarah's lips twitch in a smirk before she turned her back on her.

"A critic's words can only cut so deep. Betrayal doesn't just hurt… it wounds and leaves scars." Sarah paused for a moment, reflecting on something as her hands ghosted over several containers on the back counter. She took a scoop from one of them and shook the contents over the chocolate cone. "Regardless of why she left, Elsa is gone for a reason only she knows, and I wouldn't expect her to be the same when she comes back."

She turned to face the counter again, pleased to see that Anna was stunned silent by her words."I hope you don't mind sprinkles," she said sweetly as she handed the ice cream to Anna with an unnerving smile. "Both cones are on the house today, too."

Normally Anna would jump at the mention of anything free, but she felt her stomach flip instead.

"It was a pleasure to meet you, Henry," Sarah said, waving as he and Anna started to leave. "Come visit again before you and Emma go back to New York."

He stepped back towards the door, holding up his ice cream with an appreciative nod. "I will! Thanks!"

"Oh, and Anna…" Her words stopped the girl just short of her escape. "When Elsa _does_ come home, be sure to bring her by the shop. We have _so much_ to catch up on."

Anna gulped. "Uh… _yeah._ Sure."

She ushered Henry out the door first and followed close behind, glancing at the window for a split second to catch Sarah's cold stare through the blinds. It sent a chill up her spine and she shuddered, trying in vain to shake it off.

"Brain freeze?" Henry asked, laughing when Anna's worried face looked symptom of the headache.

"Something like that…" she muttered. "How's the ice cream? Is it okay?"

He nodded with a wide smile. "You weren't kidding. It's _awesome_ , but it can't beat the rocky road we get in Manhattan," he bragged. "Yours looks good too. Brownie clusters in chocolate ice cream are the best."

Henry couldn't see that Anna had yet to take a bite from the freebie Sarah concocted. She stared at the sprinkles and felt her stomach growling against her will to resist.

The way she got it was just… _wrong._ Anna was all for giveaways when she could get them, but Sarah forced it on her like she _had_ to have it. When she and Henry first walked into the store, everything was fine, but then when the topic changed to Elsa… everything Sarah said or did felt like it was backed with bad intentions.

Anna squeezed her eyes shut; it was a bad day in Storybrooke when she couldn't trust her ice cream.

"It's… it's great as always!" she lied, flashing a smile as she held up the mentioned cone. "It tastes even better today because it's free!"

 _Which makes me feel less guilty about doing THIS…_

As soon as Henry looked away, Anna pitched her ice cream down a side street between Granny's Diner and the fishing supply store. She'd chalk it up as an accident if he asked where it went, but she'd thank her instinct to get rid of it if she saw what happened next. When the ice cream splattered against the pavement, it instantly froze in the shape of a sharp, white snowflake.

* * *

" _Okay, so… can you notice the difference? Do you think she'll like it?"_

 _Ambassador Baldor held his chin as he walked around the queen's desk, looking at the wood drawers and polished workspace. He smiled his approval. "You can't even tell what happened," he said in surprise. "I'm sure your sister will love it, Princess Anna. It's a very thoughtful gift."_

" _A-And what about the floors?" she asked, holding her hands together as Baldor took a tour around the room. "I mean, it wasn't in too bad shape before, but it warped a little after she froze it. And there was this really annoying squeak over by the globe."_

 _Baldor traveled to the mentioned globe and stepped around its frame, checking for the telltale sign of age that the room had lived through. "No squeak," he grinned, catching the relief on his princess' face. "That's quite a lot of work the carpenters accomplished in such a short amount of time. It's been seven days now since she left, hasn't it?"_

 _Anna looked up at the ceiling and sighed. "It feels longer than that," she admitted. "I just want her to have something nice to come home to after all that happened. Plus, it was her birthday a few days ago, so…" She rubbed the back of her neck, trying to imagine how that must have felt: out of control in self-exile on your 23_ _rd_ _birthday._ Yikes. _She was sure that Olaf and Marshmallow would have tried to make it special for her, but she doubt that Elsa celebrated much, if at all._

 _A knock at the door drew her attention away from the refurbished study. Kai let himself inside and bowed at the waist. "Sorry to interrupt, Ma'am, but your sister has returned. She just entered the courty—"_

" _Elsa's back!"_

" _Y-Your Highness, if I may caution you that she's with a guest…" Kai's warning fell on deaf ears as Anna bolted from the room. He sighed, shaking his head as Baldor laughed at his futile attempt to reign her back._

 _Anna felt like she couldn't run fast enough. She was so excited that she skipped a little at the thought of her sister returning home. A week without Elsa had caused Anna the same amount of worry, but if Elsa was coming back so soon, she must have found some success in the mountains._

 _She slowed her pace as she entered the foyer, wanting to welcome her sister back home with as much poise and grace as the queen held on a daily basis. But when the large doors opened and she was met with Elsa's triumphant grin, she couldn't help herself. She ran up to her and wrapped her arms around her shoulders._

" _Welcome back!" Anna smiled, squeezing Elsa tight when the hug was returned. She broke away to look at her, holding her shoulders as she witnessed the warm expression she carried. Elsa was calm, not at all tense as she was when she had left, and her hands were uncovered and relaxed at her sides rather than tucked beneath her arms. "Wow, you look… different. I think."_

" _I feel different," said Elsa, laughing at the puzzled look on Anna's face as she tried to figure out what it was. The relief she felt undoubtedly brightened her eyes, and her smile was so wide and true that no one would know that something had been wrong with her. "I felt like I was spiraling out of control before, but I'm okay now," she said, nodding once as if to reassure both herself and her sister of it. "I'm sorry I had to leave you like that. I hope nothing major happened while I was gone."_

 _Anna shook her head. "No, no, it was fine! I mean, you owe me for having to sit in on those council meetings by myself," she joked, "but there wasn't much. I'm just glad you're okay." She looked at Elsa, happy to see that she was back to her normal self: poised, elegant and royal as ever. It was a complete contrast to just a week ago when she broke down and Anna found her huddled beneath her desk._

 _She couldn't get the image of that night out of her mind, and she hoped she'd never have to see her sister like that again. "Did you figure out what was happening?" Anna asked, disappointed when she saw Elsa shake her head._

" _I'm still not sure. For the first few days, nothing I tried was working, and then…" She looked up at the arched ceiling in thought. "I mean… I_ did _have some help…"_

" _Olaf?" Anna guessed with a smirk; she knew sending him along with Elsa was a good idea. Though as she looked around the foyer, the little snowman had yet to be seen. "Oh, hey, where is he? I want to show you guys something!"_

 _Elsa smiled, resisting when Anna grabbed her wrist and started pulling her towards the hall. "He was right behind me with—"_

 _She stopped as the door at the front of the room swung open, forcing Anna to put her surprise on hold. Olaf waddled in, then turned and walked back, out of sight. "Come on! This way!" he said. When he returned, he waved at Anna, bouncing in his step as he held the hand of an older woman, leading her inside the castle. She looked around in restrained awe, minding her manners in the company she was graced with as she followed the pull of the little snowman._

 _He let go when he got close to the royal siblings and ran at them. "Hi Anna!" he greeted, jumping into her arms when she knelt down to pick him up. He hugged her around the shoulders, laughing as she giggled, and he turned in her arms to gesture at the white-gowned woman he had led inside. "Look at who we found on the North Mountain!"_

 _Anna smiled, but it weakened the longer she stared at the woman. White-blonde hair, like Elsa, blue eyes, again like Elsa, and a shimmering gown that respected her age but screamed power. This woman looked familiar too, and not just because of the similarities between her and her sister._

 _Elsa noticed her struggle, and she crossed the distance between them, gently urging her guest to come closer. "Anna, do you remember Sarah Fisher?"_

 _She stilled at the name. That was the owner of the new ice cream shop in Storybrooke who had all the quality emotions of an icicle. "I hardly recognized you!" Anna nervously laughed, getting a chill up her spine at the woman's tight-lipped smile._

" _We all look a little different in this world," said Sarah. Even those few words sounded forced to Anna, though Elsa didn't seem to notice. "Different names, too. I'm still used to calling you both Alison and Nina."_

" _Oh, haha, yeah. You used to work in the arts and crafts store before you opened the ice cream parlor, right? Well, welcome to Arendelle!" Anna greeted. She put Olaf down on the floor, remembering something he said when he introduced Sarah. "You met on the North Mountain?" she asked, suspicious when the two blondes and the snowman all nodded. "What were you doing all the way up there?"_

" _Looking for Elsa, of course."_

 _Anna's heart skipped a beat. Typically, people who looked for the queen went to the queen's castle, not her retreat._

 _She felt a hand on her shoulder and jumped, surprised by Elsa's warm touch. "She has ice magic, too," Elsa explained, grinning at her sister's wide-eyed stare. "She's been helping me learn more about my powers, so I offered her to stay here until she's prepared to make the trip home."_

" _Oh. Wow, I guess the ice cream place makes sense then," Anna said with a sheepish grin. "So… how long are you staying?"_

 _She didn't miss the stern look Elsa gave her from the corner of her eye. Her question was rude, yes, but she always had a bad feeling about Sarah Fisher after the curse broke. The woman felt like she had something to hide, and Anna believed that she was faking every smile that spread across her lips._

 _Sarah laughed a hearty chuckle, amused by Elsa's reaction to Anna's straightforward question. "Don't worry, I'll only need a few days to rest and get what I need," she said, showing her a genuine smile for once. "And please… call me Ingrid."_

* * *

"Are you alright?"

Anna blinked, realizing she had been staring out at the frozen pond and not paying attention to the conversation Henry was trying to have with her. They sat on a park bench near the water, enjoying the nice, snow-free day, but the quiet allowed Anna to become trapped in her thoughts about Sarah.

She shook her head and managed a smile. "Oh, yeah. Sorry, I was just daydreaming again. What were you saying?"

Henry turned back to look around at the park. "You guys have weird winters," he noticed, spotting patches of green grass through the snowmelt. "It's still cold, but it's not bad out here."

"Yeah it's… normally not like this." Anna gulped. It was common to have some mild days mixed in with colder ones during wintertime, but this year had more than any other she lived through in both Storybrooke and Arendelle. She had to wonder if the weather knew that Elsa was gone; that perhaps without her, the season struggled to exist.

She wondered if winter missed Elsa just as bad as she did.

Henry leaned forward and looked at her. "Are you _sure_ you're okay?" he asked. "Sarah said something you didn't like, didn't she?"

Anna cringed. "You could tell?"

He gave her a look and Anna turned away, feeling silly.

"Right, I'm that obvious…" She sighed and sat back, rubbing her nose to stall as she tried to get her words together. "It's just… well, it's my sister," she started, glancing at him before she focused back on the pond. "I don't really know _why_ she left, and when Sarah said that Elsa might change… I mean, I know she's _safe_ … I think. And I know she loves me and she'll come home when I—when _she_ thinks she's ready to, but…"

"You're worried about her."

Anna nodded, hugging her elbows. "Yeah, I am."

"Can't you call her?"

"She, uh… she won't turn on her cell phone."

"Maybe you should just go to Boston and look for her?"

That would be akin to knocking on Zelena's front door and asking for her sister back. "I can't do that!" she yelled, sitting up straight in panic of what the witch would do to her if she made such a move.

Henry shrugged. "I guess you just gotta believe that she's okay, then."

"Yeah, I…"

 _Wait… what? Did he just tell me to believe?_

She looked at him as he dug in his pocket for something, awed that his heart shone through his muddled memories. "Here, hold out your hand," Henry told her, and when she didn't move, he reached out and took it, facing her palm towards the sky. "My mom said one of her friends gave this to her," he explained as he dropped a woven leather keychain into her hand. "She said that it made her brave when things got overwhelming or scary, so she gave it to me to help when we moved to New York."

The story made Anna smirk as she inspected the keychain. The leather was new with no signs of wear, but the golden pendant attached to it had a history. She knew because it was originally hers _._

She smiled as she ran her thumb over the crocus etched into the metal, and felt her palm grow cold where it rested in her hand. She turned the pendant over, happy to find Elsa's snowflake still frozen to the gold. Just as she said, the ice survived an entire year without magic to sustain it.

"I think that's supposed to be some kind of crystal," Henry said, pointing to the snowflake. "You can hang on to it if you want."

The offer was tempting. Anna didn't have many possessions in Storybrooke, but the necklace that the pendant came from was one of her most precious treasures. She was once again "Mom's friend" in Henry's story, but she had given the necklace to him, not Emma, on a promise that they'd see each other again.

Somehow fate brought them back to this cursed little town in Maine, but Henry wasn't himself. The true believer who tried so hard to break the first curse still slept behind a veil of false memories. He stirred, but he needed help to wake up.

Anna gave the pendant one last squeeze before she handed it back to him. "Thanks, but this is yours," she said, silently urging him to be patient until they found a way to bring his memories back. "And thank you for talking to me. You're a good kid, Henry."

He smirked and looked away, embarrassed by the compliment. "Aw, well… for being an adult, you're pretty cool, Anna. Storybrooke's not as boring as I thought it was. But you know…" he gazed at the road at the edge of the park, contemplating something as Anna checked her phone. "We never got up into that clock tower."

Anna chuckled to herself; his spirit for adventure didn't dull from the curse, that's for sure. "Let's save that one for another day, okay? It's already four o'clock," she said, showing him the time on her phone. "Emma should be back from her investigation by now."

 _And I gotta get back to mine,_ she thought as she noticed a text message she missed on their walk to the park. _If this curse isn't going to break any time soon, I have to learn more about what happened last year._

* * *

Though Henry couldn't remember a single minute about his time in Storybrooke during the first curse, Anna was thankful that his personality hadn't changed. Their conversation eased the tension she felt after what happened in the ice cream shop, and it encouraged her to keep up with her efforts to discover how Elsa fell into Zelena's hands and where she was now.

The text message she got at the park sent her to Mr. Gold's pawn shop. As the usual broker was currently being controlled and held under the watchful eye of the Wicked Witch, the store was temporarily under new management.

"It's about time you got a new phone!" Anna joked when she saw a familiar face standing behind the counter. "I thought you were going to keep using the shop's old one with the dial."

"Well, with all the witch business going on in town, David said that communication is more important now than ever. I agreed," Belle laughed, showing off her new cell phone for Anna to see. She pocketed the device and returned her focus to a book she had open next to the register. "I think I found that information you were looking for."

"About the urn?" Anna asked, heading straight to the counter. She rested her forearms on it as she peered at the large tome, recognizing runes from her homeland on the worn pages.

"Yes, well… _some_ information at the very least. According to this book, the urn is ancient, dating back to before recorded history in the Northern Kingdoms." She turned the book around, showing Anna the page she had it opened to. There was a sketch of the urn on one side, perfectly replicated from what Anna remembered of it, and a wall of futhark runes detailing the urn's information was written on the other. "It says here that it gives off an unnerving presence to magic users, like some kind of dark, foreboding aura. To anyone else, it's just an urn."

"Does it do anything?"

Belle shook her head and looked down at the open page with a disappointed frown. "Whoever wrote this never found out."

Anna placed her hands on the counter and leaned back, trying to pick up where the author left off. "So whatever it does, it probably only works on people with magic, right?"

"Sounds like it, yeah. I'm not sure it would do anything to someone normal," Belle shrugged. "Why? What are you thinking?"

"…I'm thinking that Zelena stole Elsa's magic," Anna said gravely, staring at the picture of the urn and skimming the notes in the margins. "I mean, if the urn's enchanted, it makes sense, right? And I'm thinking that if Elsa's powerless, she can't escape from wherever Zelena's hiding her. That's why she hasn't come home: she can't."

Belle nodded, liking the theory though she was quick to find a flaw. "You told me before that her snowmen couldn't see her heart or recognize her emotions when we came back. Even if she lost her magic, they should still be able to find her."

"…So maybe Zelena ripped her heart out and stuffed it in the urn?" Anna suggested. She looked up at Belle in hopes that her idea was plausible, but when the fair brunette slowly shook her head, she was forced to rethink the urn's purpose. "I guess not, huh? No point lugging that urn around if she can just carry her heart."

Anna huffed, frustrated that she couldn't do more with the information she had. She drummed her fingers on the counter, focusing on the sketch and what was engraved on the urn's face. "What do these runes mean?"

"You can't read them?" Belle asked, surprised when Anna shook her head. "I can't either and I was hoping that you could. Its futhark, but… ancient. Probably from when the urn was first forged."

Anna looked down at the open pages and ran her fingers over the words, able to read the other runes so easily when she assumed Belle had to do some translations to extract the information she needed. As she studied the lines, Anna picked up on a few things about the book. For instance, it was written completely by hand, likely with a quill judging by the ink. And as she studied the runes she could actually read, she noticed the shape of their curves and points, recognizing the handwriting of the author. "Belle… where did you find this?"

"It was sitting on a shelf in the library," Belle said, unconcerned. "It wasn't recorded in the card catalogue, so I assumed that it came back with us after the missing year. Why? Is there something wrong?" she asked. Anna stood in silence, staring at the page for a moment before she started rapidly flipping through the book. "What is it? What did you find?"

"This is my sister's," Anna whispered, quickly skimming the pages as she turned them and catching Belle's confused stare from the corner of her eye. "It's a memoir thing the monarchs of Arendelle pass down to their heirs after their rule. I didn't know she started hers."

Belle stood back and watched as Anna tore through the tome, stopping once in a while to read a passage before continuing on her reckless pace. "W-Wait, if Elsa wrote everything in there, the she knew about the urn," Belle realized. "She must have had it at one point to be able to draw it, but then how did Zelena get it? She couldn't have been in Arendelle, could she?"

"That's what I'm trying to find out," Anna said, seething when she ran out of written pages and flipped through a thick section of blanks after the last entry. "Come on sis, there had to be something going on that made you disappear like this. Give me details or a clue… _something_."

As she turned through the blank pages towards the back of the tome, she noticed drips of ink dotting the corners at random, as though Elsa had drawn a quill from an ink pot over the book as she opened it. Holding her breath, Anna slowed her reckless pace and carefully flipped through each page, unsure of what she was looking for until she finally found it.

Ink was splattered across the last page in haste and the writing was just as frantic, scrawled in large English letters instead of the futhark of the tome.

" _DON'T TRUST INGRID"_


	11. Sister Dearest

Anna loved a good book. She often found herself getting lost in adventures that weren't her own, but the book she held in her hands… the tome her sister would have passed down to the future monarch of Arendelle was more than just a simple story. It was a recollection of thoughts and ideals, fears and worries with small sketches to accompany the words. Anna could have sat there and read it all day, but instead she spent half the morning flipping between one particular sketch and a dire message.

" _DON'T TRUST INGRID"_

"Who's Ingrid?"

The question came from Olaf, who sat on the floor next to her. When Anna didn't respond, he looked up at the couch where Marshmallow sat behind him. The blonde boy shook his head, just as lost as the other two.

Anna ran her fingers over the name; by the wild writing and the splatters of ink over the page, she would have guessed that Elsa wrote this in a hurry, just before…

Just before Zelena or this "Ingrid" used the power of the ancient urn on her.

She flipped to an earlier section of the tome, back to the detailed sketch of the artifact. Elsa's notes on it revealed her apprehension about having it in the castle, but her curiosity clearly got the better of her as she, too, wondered its purpose and history. The following three pages were dedicated to her theories based on what she knew of Arendelle's past and the musings she gathered from the tomes of her forefathers. The final page on the subject was spent trying to translate the ancient futhark on the urn's face.

"Crystal, shield, blizzard," Anna said, reading one of the translations out loud. "Prism, noble, white. Flurry, sentinel—okay, she was obsessed with this." Anna set the tome down in her lap and rubbed the back of her head. "That's just convincing me that the urn is a big part of why she's gone. I mean… she wanted to know how it worked for a reason, but maybe Zelena or this Ingrid person stole it and used it on her before she could figure it out."

"…Or maybe Mama found out and used it on herself?" Marshmallow held his hands together, not wanting to believe Elsa would do such a thing, though her history of self-sacrifice made him doubt. "Maybe Mama lost control of her magic and had to stop it before it hurt people?"

"Gosh, I hope not…" Just the thought of Elsa or Arendelle being in danger again made Anna's heart clench. Her sister and their people had gone through enough. It seemed as though finding peace, whether it be in Storybrooke or the Enchanted Forest, was too much to ask for.

Anna bit her lip, deep in thought as she focused on her sister's detailed notes and what she knew from her investigation. "Let's go with the theory that the urn steals people's magic. Zelena told me that she wanted Elsa out of the way, so it makes sense that she'd take her magic… but what does she want with her? I mean, why would she hold her captive if she couldn't do anything?"

She was stumped, as were the two boys. Young as they were, their suggestions and support had helped her through the worst of this second curse, but Anna was at the point now where she needed solid answers. If that meant a confrontation with the Wicked Witch, so be it… but she didn't like her chances of escaping that encounter unharmed.

Olaf tapped his fingers together, intently looking at the book even though he couldn't quite read the runes. "Hey, if Ingrid was close by when we were taken back to Storybrooke, then maybe she's here, too!"

"If she's here, that means trouble." Anna turned back to the hasty warning scribbled in the tome. "Elsa said not to trust her. She might be up to something."

"She has her memories?" Marshmallow asked. He shook his head, grimly doubting that the mystery woman did. "I still don't. Zelena bragged about taking memories. Ingrid would forget about what she did."

"Yeah, that's true…" Anna's brows drew together, frustrated and lost on what move to make next. Pursuing Zelena for answers would be a bold and reckless decision, but Ingrid was a safer alternative so long as the curse held. Even if she didn't remember what happened in the missing year, simply talking with her could provide insight on her previous motives.

With her mind made up, Anna closed the tome and placed it on the coffee table. "No use in sitting around here, then," she said as she stood from her spot on the floor. She straightened out her sweater and looked between the two boys. "Let's go into town and see what we can find out."

Marshmallow and Olaf balked at her suggestion, looking at each other before they stared at her. "Wait, _we're_ going too?" Olaf asked. Ever since the day Anna and Kristoff were attacked near the farmstead, she was afraid to let the boys aid her in the investigation. She was hardly capable of defending herself at that time, and the thought of something happening to them kept her awake at night as much as her nightmares.

Time had passed, though, and Anna recovered. She remembered how Olaf and Marshmallow stood up to Peter Pan over a year ago, proving invaluable to the cause of rescuing her heart from that arrogant trickster. With a confident smile, she nodded to them and went to the closet. "I'm gonna need your help. Kristoff's out trying to find the urn right now," she said as she opened the door. She reached in and pulled out her shoes, slipping them on as she reached for something hidden in the back corner. "Meanwhile, the three of us are going to find Ingrid and see what she has to do with this mess."

Marshmallow jumped up from his seat, feeling bold about the plan when he saw Anna strapping her sword to her hip. "We find Ingrid, learn what story she's from… we find out what she wants with Mama."

Anna walked through the kitchen, taking something from a bowl as she made her way to the door wall. "My thoughts exactly." She slid the door open, looked around, and waved a carrot in the air. "You're coming too, Sven!" she called, throwing the carrot out the backdoor. Sven ran out from the woods and caught the carrot in midair, crunching down on it as he trotted to the front of the cabin.

Olaf stood at the front door, waving to him outside. "I bet Elsa can't wait to come home from wherever she is!" he smiled, giggling at the thought of seeing her warm smile again. "It feels like _forever_ since we've seen her, huh?"

"Yeah, it sure does," Anna said, trying to mask the sadness in her voice. She knelt down in front of Olaf and zipped up his jacket, facing him with a smirk as she put her hands on his small shoulders. "But we're gonna see her again soon! I just know it!"

* * *

 _It was a quiet afternoon in the castle's parlor, and for the first time in weeks, Elsa truly felt happy to be home again. Whatever caused her magic to spiral out of control had ceased, quelled after she found peace with herself during her retreat to the ice palace._

 _She sipped her tea in silence, watching the delicate snowfall outside while ignoring the tiered tray of tarts and pastries Kai had brought for her and her guest. She set the cup down on a saucer, amused by the steam rising from her drink in the cold room. "…I still think it's odd," she mused. "As far as I could tell, nothing was causing my magic to flare up like that. Stress, perhaps, but I felt like I was losing to it."_

 _Ingrid sat across from her at the small table, holding onto her own cup of tea with both hands. "Ice magic is very peculiar, isn't it?" she laughed, her voice light and comforting in Elsa's company. "It's not a power that can be learned, and there's very little written information on it. Most of what I know came from experience."_

" _Same with me, but after all these years, I still feel like I'm discovering new things about it. Have you ever made a snowman come to life?" Elsa asked with a raised brow. She smirked when Ingrid shook her head, knowing from the way she acted around Olaf that sentient snow-beings were new to her. "Believe me, I was surprised when I found out I could do that, too. Olaf was built with my childhood in mind, but Marshmallow…"_

" _Your desire to isolate yourself brought him to life," Ingrid concluded, intrigued by Elsa's discovery. "What about the little ones? There seemed to be a lot of them."_

 _Elsa shrugged, losing her regality for a moment as a puzzled look crossed her face. "I was sick when the snowgies happened," she explained. "Usually I only sneeze snowflakes, but of course since I was trying to throw Anna a birthday party, I sneezed snowmen instead."_

 _The two sat in silence for a moment, and when Elsa looked up at Ingrid and saw the skewed smile on her face, she broke out in a quiet fit of giggles._

 _Ingrid's smile grew wider as she watched Elsa try to hide her laughter behind her hand. "What's so funny?" she asked, curious what made the queen so suddenly lighthearted._

"… _I'm just so relieved." Elsa settled down and back into her cushioned seat, holding her hands together as she tried to find the right words to explain how she felt. "I've never been able to talk so casually about my magic before. I always have to explain everything about it when I talk to anyone else."_

 _It was comforting to know that she wasn't alone; just the thought alone felt so foreign that she had to remind herself it was real. She had someone to relate to now, someone like herself who didn't mind the cold, who had difficulty telling when the weather was frigid, who conjured snowflakes on a whim and whose breath didn't fog in the winter landscape. She'd only spent several days with her, but from sharing their own experiences, Elsa found herself and Ingrid to be very similar._

 _And it was clear that Ingrid felt the same. "You're a very powerful young woman," she said, admiring Elsa for not just the strength of her magic, but her fortitude in enduring many painful years in both Arendelle and Storybrooke. "Having to manage this magic since the day you were born… I think it'd be second nature to control it by now, but it really is that difficult for you, isn't it?"_

" _Growth spurts didn't help much, among other things…" Elsa said, looking down at her lap as she lost herself to distant memories. She reached for the gem of her necklace, resting her fingers upon it to fend off the darkness in the recesses of her mind. "My sister helps… all of my family helps, but… it's been strange since we came home from Storybrooke." She looked up at Ingrid, hoping that she'd be able to help her discover more about her condition, and perhaps aid in uncovering the secrets to her prophecy. "You were born with magic; is this happening to you as well?"_

 _The pleasant, rare smile that graced Ingrid's lips faded. She looked down to the remnants of her tea, finding her skewed reflection through the steam. "Elsa, I wasn't born with magic like you were."_

 _Elsa blinked. They shared a gift; that was something Ingrid told her countless times in the ice palace and on the way home. She'd seen her cast her magic, saw the reflective ice she could create in a blink of an eye. They were so similar, from the color of their hair and eyes to the sheer capes of snowflakes they made to revel in their power. Certainly, Elsa thought, that their magic origins were the same, too._

 _But then it occurred to her that Ingrid never told her of her past, only that it took her many years to hone and master her power. Elsa swallowed as she thought back to her youth on a terrible night, when her parents brought her and Anna before the trolls. Through the panic, she clearly remembered Grand Pabbie asking her father a desperate question._

 _Her eyes went wide when she realized what Ingrid was trying to say. "You were cursed with it."_

 _Ingrid lowered her head, fading in the light of Elsa's composure. "I was, yes. It happened when I was young," she started, speaking comfortably though her tense fingers hinted at a troubling memory. "I was an adolescent… in love," she wistfully smiled, "and naïve. So, so poorly naïve. The details are unimportant now, but the boy whom I loved broke my heart, and… I couldn't handle it."_

" _The village elders of my home spun tales of a mystical woman living in the mountains," Ingrid continued, unaware that Elsa could spy frost seeping from her fingertips onto her teacup. "They claimed she had the power to heal a broken heart so it would never feel pain again. I set out late one evening to find her against the wishes of my family."_

 _Ingrid paused and turned her sights to the snowfall outside. "Her name was Hulda," she said through a shiver. "She made her home on the tallest mountain in Eiskurr, in an ice cave just below the summit. I asked—I_ begged _for her aid. She agreed, but…"_

" _She froze your heart," Elsa concluded when Ingrid was unable to finish her tale. She reached out and grasped her hand, imagining the normal life she must have led before the magic was thrust upon her. "Ingrid, I'm so sorry—"_

" _It was my own fault." Ingrid's eyes crinkled at the corners as she found her smile again, thankful for Elsa's concern. She put her hand over her heart. "Hulda did as I asked her to… I just didn't think at the time that there would be repercussions."_

 _The curse was likely the reason why Ingrid acted so cold and detached from the world: her frozen heart dulled her emotions. The difference between her and Elsa, one cursed with the magic and one born with it, was that Ingrid had better control over it at the cost of her ability to feel._

 _At least, that's the theory Anna came up with as she listened to their conversation in the hallway._

 _She pressed her back to the wall, watching the door for shadows. She'd bail the second someone so much as scooted their chair, but Elsa and Ingrid were talking like old friends trying to catch up; they weren't going to stop any time soon._

 _Anyone who saw her would have scolded her for spying, but Anna couldn't shake the feeling that Ingrid was hiding some ulterior motive in befriending Elsa. Above everything, she wanted to make sure her sister was safe, so if she had to invade her privacy a little… well, it was worth the risk of getting caught._

 _The only problem was that from the moment Ingrid first arrived at the castle, she hadn't done anything to prove Anna right. Sure, a few things she said were odd or sounded creepy, but that could have just been the way Anna interpreted her words. No one else had anything to say about her, only that she was quiet and had excellent manners in the monarch's home._

"Maybe I'm just being paranoid…" _Anna thought to herself. She had plenty of things to do that day and was only wasting her time waiting for Ingrid to slip. The strange woman was helping her sister with something that no one else could; she should be grateful._

 _She stepped away from the wall, intent on moving on with her day until she heard Ingrid say something that made her heart sink._

" _I realize now that I was a fool in Storybrooke to keep my magic from you. Our power makes us special, Elsa, and in this short time that I've been able to help you… I've begun to think of you as a sister."_

* * *

"Hoo hoo! Welcome back to Oaken's General and Consignment. May I offer you our winter special on homemade gløgg? Buy one pint, get one pint half off, plus a free quart of lutefisk!"

"Uh, no. No lutefisk," Anna laughed half-heartedly, eyeing the jars of fermented fish sitting on the shelves behind Oaken. "Actually, I was hoping you could help us find someone."

On their way into town, Anna, Olaf and Marshmallow composed a list of people they knew from Arendelle, Weselton and the Southern Isles to ask about Ingrid. The only thing Anna knew about her was her name and that at some point she had met Elsa; nothing more. She had to assume that Ingrid was from somewhere in the Northern Kingdoms as she was able to speak with her without raising suspicion, at least until Elsa penned her dire message in the tome.

They chose to bypass Kai and Gerda's place for the moment as Anna felt bad for bothering them so often to help take care of the boys while she worked. Hans would have been on the list if he weren't a monkey, as well as the Duke of Weselton's guards if they weren't practically invisible in the town; Anna hadn't seen them since they returned to Storybrooke, though the Duke himself was still employed with the Daily Mirror. He was on the bottom of the interview list for a reason, and she hoped she wouldn't have to resort to asking him for help if she could avoid it.

That left only a small list of reliable residents from Arendelle's village and the castle staff to ask. Shopkeepers, merchants and pub masters typically heard the most gossip, so Anna chose to start with Oaken and move on from there.

The jolly man rubbed his chin in thought, carefully searching his memories as the little family awaited his answer. Olaf bounced in place, anticipating his response, while Marshmallow impatiently glared at him. Finally, Oaken turned to face Anna's hopeful eyes and shook his head. "I'm sorry, Miss Anna, but I don't remember meeting your Ingrid. She is missing?"

"Sort of," Anna shrugged, disappointed but still determined. "I was hoping she could help us find Elsa, but I don't know where to start looking for her. I don't even know what she looks like or what she did in the Enchanted Forest."

"Well, I hope you find her and Miss Elsa soon. Winter hasn't been the same without her, ja?"

"Tell me about it. Thank you for your help, Oaken," she smiled, waving to him as she headed towards the door with Olaf and Marshmallow at her heels. "If you remember anything, please let me or Emma know."

"Of course! And if you happen to find your Ingrid, let her know that we sell homemade quality goods from Arendelle at Oaken's General and Consignment, ja? Always good to have new customers from home!"

Giggling, Anna left the store, thankful for Oaken's positive attitude. Marshmallow on the other hand didn't feel the same way. He crossed his arms, pouting as he followed her outside and approached Sven. "Big man was no help," he said, stating the obvious.

"Yeah, but he knows that we're looking for Ingrid now. We're getting the word out!" Anna smiled, grinning wider as she found Sven with his face buried in the knapsack full of carrots she had brought for him. "Who do you think we should ask next?"

Marshmallow scoffed. "Weasel Man must know something."

Just the idea of having to _interact_ with that shrew made Anna's nose wrinkle in disgust. "Ah, no. I'd rather not talk to him if we don't have to."

"What about Mr. Baldor?" Olaf suggested.

"Hmm… that's not a bad ide—"

"Ooh, I know! Let's ask Kristoff!"

Anna blinked, confused by Olaf's sudden change of mind. "We can't understand him. Besides, we can't ask him anyway. He's trying to get the urn from…"

Anna bit back her words when a cold gust of air drew her attention to the sky. Instinct had her reaching for the sword at her hip when she saw the winged silhouette of Zelena's flying henchmen, but when she spotted the sandy fur of one and the glint of a blue crystal around its neck, she knew Olaf's suggestion hadn't come from nothing. "Kristoff!" she yelled, waving her arms to flag him down. She yelled for him again, joined this time by Sven's call, and the combination of their efforts was enough to get him to turn around and locate them.

He looked back to the pack he had been flying with and broke away when he was sure they wouldn't mind his absence, swooping down to join Anna and the others on the ground. With a sad frown, he held up his empty paws and shook his head. He was unable to find the urn.

"It's okay. You tried," Anna smiled. She watched as the other monkeys continued on without him and she started to worry; typically Zelena's minions stayed in the forest, and a visit to town could only mean trouble. "What's going on? Where were you guys headed?"

Kristoff turned, pointing in the direction of the harbor, chittering something unintelligible that only Sven seemed to understand. He turned back, only to find that the rest of his family was starting to head in the same direction. Screeching, he flapped his wings, darting in front of Anna and waving his hands, urging her to stay away.

"If you guys are here, then Zelena's here, right? She probably has the urn, Kristoff!"

He squeaked and growled, his voice growing louder as Anna stubbornly refused to heed his warning.

"Hey, don't raise your voice at me! I know what I'm doing!"

Olaf took a step back as Anna began to squabble with Kristoff. He looked at Marshmallow, wondering if he knew what Kristoff was saying or if Anna could suddenly translate his primate speech. Marshmallow simply shrugged, and both boys looked to Sven for help only to find the reindeer completely invested in the heated argument, actually seeming to gasp once at something Kristoff said.

Finally, Anna stomped her foot and pulled on her braids in frustration. "Kristoff, I have _no idea_ what you're trying to tell me but I don't have time to stand here and argue! If the monkeys are over there, someone might be in trouble and we gotta help. If Elsa was here she'd let me go."

Kristoff held up a finger, intent to argue further, and then he deflated at a second thought. There was no point in trying to keep her from the danger; Anna was a hero, as was the rest of her family. He was going to attempt stopping the other flying monkeys by himself, but backup from the people he loved most wouldn't have gone unappreciated.

With a heavy sigh, he nodded, helping Marshmallow and Olaf get onto Sven's back before climbing onto the handlebars of Anna's bike. She sat down behind him, getting the most adorable-yet-creepy monkey-pout for throwing herself into danger again.

She kissed him on top of his head. "Oh stop. I can handle this. It's just like everything else we've done before, except this time I'm fighting a circus instead of power-hungry witches."

He turned around and just stared.

"…Okay, I'm fighting a circus and _one_ power-hungry witch. Not much of a difference, Kristoff."

* * *

 _If she wasn't the queen of a kingdom, Elsa would have been running down the halls like a giddy little child._

 _She maintained her composure well, holding her head high and shoulders back with a confident smile to match, though her normally folded hands were uncovered at her sides as she walked through her home at a brisk pace. That one subtle difference told the staff that she was relaxed and undeniably happy; a relief to them and her family considering the stress and chaos she had been dealing with for months._

 _It must have been a sin to feel as good as she did, otherwise she'd have more carefree and hopeful days like this one. She felt back together now after her magic nearly ripped her apart, and her fast friendship with Ingrid provided her with a mentor who made her feel less like an outsider in her own home. The pressing relations with Arendelle's allied kingdoms were on hold due to winter, but now that Elsa's personal matters were taken care of, she was more than ready to dive back into politics once the travel routes cleared._

 _And if Zelena ever dared to return… she was ready for her, too. The Wicked Witch would be a fool to set foot in her kingdom again._

 _There was only one minor concern she was trying to deal with at the moment, but for once her lack of success wasn't tampering with her good mood. Elsa smiled when she spotted Gerda dusting off an end table in the hallway, nodding when the caretaker acknowledged her presence._

" _Good afternoon, Your Ma- Elsa," Gerda corrected, smiling when she remembered how the queen insisted she stop the formalities when no other dignitaries or royalty were around. "Where are you off to today?"_

" _Well, the baker is arriving soon to do a cake sampling for the wedding. I was supposed to meet Anna in the gallery before then, but she never showed up. Do you know where she is?"_

 _Gerda shook her head. "No, I'm sorry. The last time I saw her, she was with Kristoff and Carol in the solarium. She looked stressed."_

 _About the wedding, no doubt. Monkeys and witches had slowed her planning progress once she had gotten started, and Elsa felt guilty that her own problems kept Anna from focusing on her big day as well. As she was free from most of her royal obligations and magical turmoil for the time being, Elsa was ready to take on her role as maid of honor and get the bride-to-be ready for her big day._

 _She could only imagine what part of it all would threaten to return the white to Anna's hair. "I'll try looking for her there. Thank you, Gerda."_

 _Elsa set forth through the halls once more, still content but now worried about her little sister. Anna was typically late for just about everything if Elsa or Gerda weren't there to keep her on schedule, but she'd never promise to be somewhere and simply never show. At the very least, she would have sent a message along if she knew she was going to be_ that _late._

 _Arriving at the solarium, Elsa put her hand on the doorframe as she took a hesitant step inside. "There you are!" she smiled in relief, finding Anna hunched over a table near the windows. "I thought you'd forgotten about me!"_

 _Anna shook her head, but she didn't turn around to look at her sister as she entered the room. "No, sorry, I didn't forget," came her sullen response. "I'm just… thinking."_

 _Before her on the table were six different flower arrangements, put together by Carol, no doubt. To the left were a stack of plate styles and napkin colors, to the right, six silverware designs, and a pile of napkin rings sat between Anna's hands. Elsa looked at it all, understanding her sister's dilemma. "Where's Kristoff? I thought he was helping you with this?"_

 _Anna turned around and leaned on the table, facing Elsa with a tired grin. "He took a break to feed Sven before we go to the cake sampling," she giggled. "Are you still going to help us with that?"_

" _Of course I am. Why wouldn't I?" Elsa grew concerned when Anna sniffed and looked away, avoiding her question. "Is something wrong?"_

" _Nope. Everything's good. Why?"_

" _You look like something's bothering you," Elsa noticed, "and it's not just the wedding. Is it something I did?"_

 _Anna stood up straight. "No! Elsa, no, you didn't do anything wrong. It's just… I'm…" She looked back at the table and rubbed her neck, crumbling beneath Elsa's worried stare. With a deep breath, she squeezed her eyes shut. "Can I ask you something?"_

 _Oblivious, Elsa nodded. "You're my sister. You can ask me anything."_

"… _Do you trust Ingrid?"_

 _She waited a beat before she opened her eyes. Elsa wasn't just puzzled, but she looked offended as well. "Anna, what is this about?"_

" _Well, it's just… she seems sketchy," Anna started, looking at the floor and missing the way Elsa cringed at her answer. "I-I mean it's great and all that you found somebody with powers like yours, but she's too quiet and I get the chills anytime I'm around her."_

" _She's a stranger to you. Is that a problem?"_

 _Elsa's challenge was fortified with crossed arms and an ice cold stare. Anna had no choice but to look at her now, and though she wasn't afraid of her sister, she would admit that her stance was intimidating with the snowy backdrop outside the window. "Ingrid's quiet because she hardly knows anyone here and she's never stayed in a castle before. We were all different during the curse; how can you expect her to warm up to you right away?"_

 _Anna scoffed. "How could YOU just let her walk into the ice palace after she followed you up the North Mountain?"_

" _She didn't follow me."_

" _Well she knew where you were! Look, I get that she's helping you and everything, but I swear I get a bad feeling every time I look at her. She's hiding something."_

 _Elsa's frown grew tighter and she raised a brow, unamused. "Where was that instinct when you fell for Hans?"_

 _Her swift response caught Anna off guard and hit her like a punch to the stomach. She stilled, reeling from memories and the bite of her sister's words. "…That's not fair."_

 _The steam that fueled Elsa's temper exhausted itself the moment she saw the hurt in Anna's eyes. She sighed, tense shoulders falling when she realized she rubbed salt in a wound that would never heal. "I know, I'm sorry… but not trusting my judgement about Ingrid isn't fair either. She's my friend. Is that okay?"_

" _Yeah, no, it's great. It's really, truly great and I'm happy for you," Anna said, feeling her heart pang with the lie. "You finally got someone who can help you figure out your magic, so that's… great."_

 _With those few words, Elsa finally understood the root of Anna's troubles. Her hands fell to her sides, expression softening as Anna tried to busy herself again with the table of wedding preparations. "Anna, Ingrid's not going to replace you."_

 _Anna bit her lip, saying nothing and wanting the conversation to be over._

" _Ingrid taught me a few techniques to control my magic when it feels like I can't," Elsa said as she walked over to the table. She put a hand on Anna's shoulder and started to sort through the pile of napkin rings. "But the only reason her lessons worked is because I learned the fundamentals of control from you. You showed me love that no one else could give me," she smiled as she paired the rings with suitable napkin colors. "And because of you, I learned how to love myself, crazy magic and all."_

 _She moved around some of the plates on the table and paired each with a different napkin. When she was finished, she stood back with a smirk and watched Anna's face light up. The table, once overwhelming with all its choices, was now neatly organized with dining placements to match each floral centerpiece._

" _Anna, every time I fall apart, you somehow put me back together. Nobody else can do that for me."_

 _After so many years, Elsa thought she would have gotten used to sudden hugs, but it still surprised her when Anna wrapped her arms around her shoulders and squeezed her tight._

" _I love you, Elsa," Anna said, voice muffled as she buried her face in her shoulder. She didn't cry, but when she pulled out of the embrace she smiled wide, relieved that her fears weren't true. "I'm sorry for making you upset. And I'm sorry for being so judge-y about Ingrid. I think it's my "true believer" power having a false alarm or something."_

 _Elsa reached out and tweaked her nose. "Nah. It's just you being my little sister."_

 _They giggled, both somehow oblivious to the way Elsa's necklace sparkled in the lighter moment. She took Anna's hand and pulled her towards the door, wearing a wide smile as they left the solarium behind. "Come on, let's get back on track with this wedding. Do you have your dress picked out yet?"_

" _Um…"_

"… _Do you even have it designed?"_

 _They stopped walking and stared at each other._

"… _No?"_

 _Elsa rolled her eyes and continued on her way, pulling along her procrastinating little sister. "You're going to fix that first thing tomorrow. For now, though… how about that cake?"_

 _Anna grinned. "You're pretty excited about this part, aren't you?"_

" _I've been eating nothing but berries, cold bread, cheese and ice for the past week," Elsa joked. "Yes, Anna, I'm_ very _excited!"_

* * *

There was nothing pleasant about a flock of flying monkeys circling over the docks like vultures. Whatever they were up to, or whatever they had been ordered to do, they looked ready to swarm. Anna could only hope that she wouldn't be too late to stop them, though the odds were stacked against her as they usually were.

She had to try, and it was that thought that drove her to keep heading towards the danger despite Kristoff's protests. When she rounded the corner of a warehouse, she found what the monkeys were searching for and skid her bike to a halt, ditching it just after Kristoff leapt off the handlebars and took flight.

"Killian!" Anna yelled, racing towards him with Sven and the boys right behind her. The pirate only glanced her way as he backed towards the open door of a boathouse, holding a protective arm in front of his first mate, Smee, and a very confused Henry.

Henry backpedaled towards the boathouse, trying to process everything before he focused on the only person who seemed capable of explaining. "Anna, what's going on?! What are those things?" he asked, pointing to Kristoff and the monkeys. "…And why do you have a _sword?_ "

She had drawn it on instinct and bit her lip, trying in vain to hide it behind her back. "It's… _um…_ "

"Are you guys LARPing?"

Killian and Anna looked at each other, confused.

"Uh, _yeah._ Sure. Henry, you and fishbreath over there need to get in the boathouse," Anna said, ignoring Smee's scowl at the nickname she gave him. "Killian and I will take care of these things."

When Henry and Smee hesitated to move, Sven gently prodded them along, lowering his head and urging them into the boathouse with his antlers. With Olaf and Marshmallow on his back, he stood ready behind Anna and Killian to back them up if needed.

Anna watched the swarm of monkeys, finding Kristoff's light fur easily in the mix. He was either trying to calm them down or dissuade them from going through with their orders… at least she hoped he was. "Don't shoot my boyfriend," she said with a smile when Killian pulled a pistol from his jacket.

"Aye, no worries luv." Killian took stance and aim, about to boast his marksmanship when a flash of light caught the corner of his eye. He looked over to find Anna flourishing her sword in anticipation. "Were you something of a swordswoman back in your kingdom?"

"No, just a princess," Anna said with a bright smile. "Get ready, they're coming!"

Killian fired the first shot to start the mayhem, grazing a monkey's shoulder just as Anna pulled another out of mid-air by its tail. She slammed the hilt of her sword into the side of its head, cringing when it fell to the dock unconscious. "Ooh, ouch. Sorry 'bout that!" Turning her focus back to the melee, she elbowed another monkey in the gut before tucking and rolling beneath another's long-armed reach.

She got to her feet quickly and looked up in time to see Sven kick that monkey away, snorting satisfied before he lowered his head and charged into a group of the cursed creatures. His display was impressive, but when Anna noticed that his back was bare, she panicked. "Oh no… where's—?"

Right on cue, she heard high pitched yelling coming from inside the boathouse. Anna looked at the entrance, dumbstruck by the sight of Olaf and Marshmallow running out with a long rowing oar in their hands. They both held on to a side, running through the crowd and clotheslining any monkey that tried to make a dash for the boathouse. If any dared to make a move against the brothers, Marshmallow took the oar alone and swatted them away.

Anna chuckled to herself as she smacked a monkey in the back of the head with the flat of her blade. Elsa would _not_ approve of her family throwing themselves into danger when they didn't have to, but Anna knew she'd be proud of what they were doing.

It was that thought that fueled her energy to continue the fight. Thanks to their efforts, most of the monkeys fled from their mission, but there was still a sizable force attempting to break through their line to the boathouse. One after another, Anna batted them away, lost in a sea of winter landscape and brown fur as she focused on nothing but her actions.

She pivoted on her heel and looked up, searching for her next target when she saw something bright beyond the dull colors of her surroundings. It was a familiar shade of light blue that held her attention, glistening somewhat in the clouded sunlight.

Anna pushed through the crowd to get a better view, letting down her guard as she desperately tried to disengage from the fight. She felt a fist collide with her shoulder, knocking her sideways as the sting of razor sharp claws caught her thigh. Injured, she made an excellent target for the monkeys to flock to.

One after another, they were drawn away from attacking her thanks to her allies. Marshmallow and Olaf caught two of them with the oar, Killian shot one in its wing, and Sven knocked out another three by charging them with his horns. With the opportunity they gave her, Anna spun around to find the source of sparkling blue she had seen during the fight.

She paled, feeling parched when her first, hopeful guess turned out to be right.

"…Elsa?"

The Queen of Arendelle, adorned with her golden crown and dressed in her favorite gown of ice, stood by and watched the absurd scuffle taking place before her. Unmoving, unblinking, she found Anna in the mix and stared at her, chilling her to the bone when their eyes met.

Never before did Anna see her sister look so lifeless and empty. Even in isolation, Elsa looked more alive than she did now.

Anna took one step forward and Elsa turned away, pulling the edge of her cape as she disappeared around the side of a warehouse. Without thinking of her surroundings, Anna ran after her. "Elsa, wait!" she yelled, so focused on her sister that she didn't hear Killian call for a retreat to safety inside the boathouse.

High above, Kristoff looked down to see Sven, Olaf and Marshmallow following Killian inside. Anna, meanwhile, was running in the opposite direction, away from the docks and back towards the streets of town in pursuit of… " _Elsa?"_

He had questions that would have to wait, for as soon as he saw Anna sprint across the alleyway, a monkey broke free from the pack and chased after her. Kristoff swooped down and went after it just as it made a swipe at Anna's arm. It missed, and that slow in its momentum allowed Kristoff the opportunity to grab it by the shoulders and slam it into the side of the warehouse. The noise startled Anna and she tripped, catching herself before she fell as she glanced back to find Kristoff at her heels. They both saw the worry and hope in each other's eyes; Elsa was here, but why was she walking away from them?

They caught up to her by the time she made it to the street and stopped right in the middle of it. She didn't turn around; didn't care to, actually, not even as Anna called her name.

"Elsa…! Elsa, it's okay! It's just me and Kristoff!" Anna reached for her as she approached, hoping she could coax her sister into facing her. "I mean, I know it doesn't _look_ like Kristoff, but… you don't have to walk away from us. I'm just so glad that you're safe, and—"

The moment her fingers touched Elsa's shoulder, she snapped her hand back. Her skin was cold as ice and bit like it, too, feeling as hard as a rock. Anna shook her hand; what she touched was _not_ flesh and bone.

In a horrifying display, Elsa's shoulder cracked and splintered, starting a chain reaction that sent fissures across her body. Her skin turned blue and her eyes glowed with a white light moments before she completely shattered.

Her fragmented remains fell to the pavement piece by piece, driving knives into Anna's heart as each one struck the cold ground. Time slowed and the world went silent, all for Anna to watch Elsa crumble into a pile of shards on a dirty street in Storybrooke. She couldn't comprehend what happened, falling so fast into shock that nothing, not even Kristoff's chittering, could rouse her from it. If she could hear anything past her own heartbeat, she thought she heard him screech just before she was knocked off her feet and sent crashing to the ground.

Kristoff held her around the waist, squeezing her tight as a wave of pure white magic soared over them and burst against a telephone pole. It crackled and fizzed where it hit, a sound so familiar to Anna that it broke her free from her daze. Slowly, she got up from Kristoff's protective embrace, peering at the outburst as she rose to her feet.

 _Is that… ice magic?_

White frost painted the telephone pole in an explosive design. She glanced at her sister's remains, wondering where the magic came from before she turned around to see another blast headed straight for her head. She ducked beneath it just in time, drawing her sword as she fully stood again to face—

"Sarah?!"

There was no mistaking the chill that ran up her spine when she locked eyes with her. Silent, Sarah strode down the street, uncovered hands held out to her sides with her palms glowing white. Her face was blank, but Anna could tell that there was a fury hidden behind that tight frown and empty blue eyes.

"I shouldn't be surprised you went after her," Sarah said, motioning to Elsa's remains. Her tone was colder than usual, lacking any of the strained pleasantries she typically forced in her speech. "Of course, if you truly loved her, you would have known that this was merely a reflection of her." She reached out to the pile of crystals and swirled her hand, using her magic to break the ice down into snowflakes. They drifted off on a breeze from the harbor, insignificant compared to what they were seconds before. "It was nothing but a cruel trick."

Anna should have known the minute she touched her that the doppelganger wasn't Elsa, but the sight of her shattering unleashed a hidden fear she never knew she had. "…Why would you do that?"

"Because I knew you would follow her. I needed to separate you from the others, and now that you're here, well…"

Sarah held up her hand and splayed her fingers, releasing sparks of white magic into the air. Anna heard the results before she saw them, the unmistakable snapping sound of ice as it sprouted and grew. Her instinct told her to run, that her initial feelings about Sarah were true, but as soon as she took a step back, she found herself stuck.

Dread crept upon her as she looked down. Both of her legs were encased in ice, preventing her hasty getaway and severely hindering her ability to defend herself. Kristoff was at her side in seconds, doing what he could to chip away at the ice with his claws, but Anna knew he wouldn't be able to help her in time. She did what she could to swallow her fear, and then turned to face her assailant.

Sarah stood against the wind as white magic flowed from her palms, rolling up her arms and lancing off her shoulders in ghost-like wisps. She approached Anna with a satisfied smile, basking in her helplessness as Kristoff's efforts went in vain.

"…Now we can finish what you started in Arendelle, Anna."


	12. Pure of Heart, Star of Hope

_Okay…! Okay. I can get through this. I mean, I've been through worse, right? Crazy lady with super-strong snow powers? No biggie. It's like a scary version of Elsa._

Anna managed a brave face as Kristoff scratched away at the ice around her legs. She then looked up, heart skipping beats as Sarah approached amidst a wild flurry of snow.

 _Oh CRAP she's gonna kill me._

"Kristoff, hurry!"

Small shards of ice flew everywhere as Kristoff upped his pace, his paws nothing but a blur as he made little headway on the block. It was way too thick for his claws to be much use; he needed his ice axe or something similar to pierce it. With an idea in mind, he glanced up, eyes falling upon Anna's sword just as he felt the sting of Sarah's magic striking his shoulder.

It enveloped him before he could react, binding his arms and wings to his torso in ice so thick he couldn't break free. He tried regardless, tossing his head and stumbling away from Anna as his effort got him nowhere.

"How very sad," Sarah said, pitying him when he succumbed to the weight of the ice and fell forward. "If you were still human, you might have stood a chance at saving your princess." She cast her cold glare at Anna. "That ice will be your tomb."

It began to creep up Anna's legs as it was mentioned, and it would keep spreading if she did nothing to stop it. She still held her sword; a couple of stabs in the right places and she could break free to fight back.

Her adrenaline was off the charts, though, and in the moment she decided to commit to the idea, she was stopped by a second thought. Without a doubt, if she did this wrong, she'd stab herself. Even where the ice was thickest at her feet, one inch was the difference between salvation and severing an artery.

There had to be a safer way out of this. She had to stall.

"Uh, h-hey, time out for a second. I get that you're mad and all, but I don't remember a thing that happened last year." Anna twisted her hips and tried to tug her right leg out of the ice, grimacing when it wouldn't budge. "What did I do? And how come you have your memories and I don't?"

 _Because that is TOTALLY not fair…_

Her questions intrigued Sarah, but it did nothing to stop the ice from climbing past her knees. "No one can stop a Dark Curse once its cast," Sarah began, "but there are ways to prevent the memory loss. I succumbed to the first curse not knowing what it was, but I made sure to prepare if there was ever a second."

 _Yeah, yeah, keep talking,_ Anna thought, half-listening as she continued to search for a way out of her predicament. She almost slapped her forehead when she saw Kristoff rolling on the ground, unable to stand upright or free himself from the ice.

"You'd know how fond I am of mirrors if you had your memories," Sarah continued with an unnerving smile, drawing back Anna's attention. "I've spent years researching their properties, learning how to use them with my own magic, and I discovered something. Mirrors are _excellent_ at storing images, so why not memories as well?"

That sure explained the excess amount of mirrors in the ice cream shop. Sarah must have spent every dull moment at work staring at that glass, learning what happened in her last year away from Storybrooke. Anna couldn't help but be a little jealous for it; here she had been running around for weeks trying to unravel the past on her own, and with a simple spell, Sarah knew everything.

She grit her teeth, seething as the cold numbed her toes and started settling into her knees. "Okay… so _maybe_ I did something to upset you last year. Whatever it was, I'm sorry," Anna said, thankful that Sarah was holding off on "finishing" that business for the moment. "But right now, Zelena has Elsa held captive somewhere and a creepy urn that probably does something bad. Can we maybe… I dunno… settle our differences _after_ we find her?"

Sarah looked down upon her, disgusted. "You're suggesting an _alliance?"_ she scoffed.

 _No, I'm just suggesting that you step off for five minutes so I can get myself out of here._

Anna forced through an unsure smile. "…Yes?"

For a moment, Anna felt the ice halt in its advance. She raced to think of ways to break the ice without hurting herself while Sarah contemplated her sudden offer. "I don't know exactly if you and Elsa were close friends, but you talk about her like you really miss her. I miss her too," Anna said, sympathizing while playing her strategy for all it was worth. "She _needs_ our help, Sarah. If she could come home, she would have done it already. You _know_ that."

It was hard to tell what Sarah's feelings were on the subject. Just as always, she was a blank slate, her emotion held back either by necessity or something else that Anna didn't understand. As Anna anxiously awaited her decision, she felt the breeze from the harbor come to an abrupt halt. The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end as goosebumps numbed her skin. Somehow without the wind, she suddenly felt colder.

"Anna… you poor, foolish little girl."

Sarah held her hands out to her sides, white magic glowing in her palms.

"You act like you have a part to play when this story doesn't include you. How could you possibly hope to stand up to Zelena with the way you are? You have no magic," she spat, palms glowing brighter as she spoke. "You have nothing valuable to offer to me. You're a nuisance that's good for nothing except hurting Elsa."

Anna scowled, giving a sharp tug at her left leg; the ice wouldn't let her go. "That's not true! I would never—"

"You already have. You simply don't remember." She raised her hand, facing her palm outwards. "Elsa won't understand why I had to do this once I free her, but she will come around in time. Eventually she'll learn that her life would have been better if she had a sister more like her."

Her words were meant to sting, but Anna felt nothing from it. Sarah's lies and drivel were so unbelievable that Anna didn't need her memories to discern the truth. She held up her sword, ready to defend herself against the coming onslaught of magic when something caught the corner of her eye.

Just as Sarah was about to strike, Kristoff rolled in from behind her. She cried out as he knocked into her legs, sending her falling backwards as the magic in her hand misfired to the street. White spikes of ice grew from where her magic struck, pointing towards Anna in an arc that formed a barrier between the two.

Kristoff's distraction provided just the break she needed. She looked down at the thick ice around her legs, raised her sword and spun it so the blade pointed straight down.

 _Here goes nothing…!_

She picked a spot where the ice was thickest and thrust the blade down, praying she wouldn't miss. The moment the tip met the block, though, she panicked, stopping herself when a third of the weapon cut through her prison. Something wasn't right.

Swords shouldn't be able to cut through ice like butter.

As though the blade had been superheated, it made a clean cut through the ice; the surface was hardly fractured by the initial strike. How or why this was happening, Anna didn't know, but it was an advantage she'd gladly use to get out of this mess.

She lifted her sword from its frozen sheath and prepared to make the next strike while Sarah recovered from her fall. Anna picked an angle, readied her blade and… stopped, chilled once again as the breeze from the harbor returned as a harsh gust of wind. It came back so suddenly that she couldn't help but look at where it came from, and what she saw made her forget all about escaping Sarah's trap.

It was odd… something unnatural, like a shift in the air that could have been passed off as an illusion. Anna knew better than to ignore it; the way her skin tingled and tensed with goosebumps was a sure sign that a different kind of magic was close by. The shift she saw progressed into a glimmer, and then materialized into a familiar pulse of light that was racing towards her.

She felt the ice around her legs shatter a half-second before the light slammed into her and knocked her off her feet. As she fell, she heard the wall of spikes breaking apart, and just saw Kristoff's wings extend in freedom before she struck the pavement with her shoulders. The force of the impact knocked the sword out of her hand, sending it clattering to a rest at her side.

The metallic sound echoed through her head, reaching down to her heart before it rang in her mind, pulling on the memories that had been locked away by this second curse. She closed her eyes in pain as each one forced its way back to the surface, feeling sick on a roller coaster of emotions as every good moment was thrown off-kilter by a devastating event.

She remembered the birthday party Elsa threw her to make up for what she couldn't give in Storybrooke. She remembered her engagement to Kristoff at the waterfall, and the fun days of outings and fishing trips with her family. She remembered when Zelena attacked Arendelle twice in an effort to subdue Elsa, for no reason other than being an apparent threat to her plans.

Anna seethed as she sat up, putting a hand to her head as the last of her memories returned. After Zelena's defeat, Elsa's control over her power began to slip, resulting in a sudden return to the North Mountain. She met someone there who gained her trust and taught her how to reign back her magic… but their friendship came at a price that Elsa could not foresee.

That was the reason why she had yet to make an appearance in Storybrooke, and also why Anna was currently under attack.

She reached for her sword, glaring beneath her bangs past the shattered ice and to the blonde witch in the road. "Ingrid…!"

Sarah hesitated at the name. She dared to turn and look, to stare at Anna and all the fury she held in her eyes, and she matched it. Where Anna scrambled to her feet, Sarah… no, _Ingrid_ calmly rose, standing still in a dare to be attacked.

Anna fell for the bait. Fueled by her returned memories, she sprinted down the street, sword in hand, heart beating loud enough to block out any second thoughts she might have had about her actions. She grit her teeth; how could Ingrid just _stand_ there after what she had done?!

There were no tears, no screaming, just white-hot anger that made her blind to everything and anyone that wasn't Ingrid. It was just before she was in striking distance that Anna ran into something that stopped her still. She looked down, thinking her legs were frozen again, but it was Kristoff who dove in her way and held her shoulders, preventing her from doing the unthinkable.

"Let me go!" she cried, struggling against him as the world and all its noise started coming back to her. Despite his smaller size, he was still stronger. "Kristoff, please!"

Ingrid did nothing but watch, keeping her magic hidden within her palms. "Elsa deserved better," she seethed, anger coming through despite the curse upon her heart. "I think we know now who the real monster is."

"I was trying to _save_ her!" Anna cried. She braced against Kristoff and pushed with all her might, knocking him back a step and causing Ingrid to do the same. "You _hurt_ her! She was struggling and needed help and you… _you…!_ "

"I took away her pain." Ingrid raised her arms, summoning a flurry of snowflakes. They swirled around her in a vortex, obscuring her features in a cloud of white, though her bright blue eyes pierced through the magic. "All you managed to do is betray her trust and break her heart."

The flurry of snow enveloped Ingrid and she was gone, transported elsewhere to seek her own means. Anna stared at the spot where she stood from over Kristoff's shoulder, ignoring his pleas to look at him. Up to this point she thought she had been doing well in keeping herself together and in searching for her sister, but now that her memories returned in a blink of an eye… she felt stupid. The past month she had been wandering around in a daydream, enduring setbacks because she thought… she _believed_ that her efforts would bring her sister home.

She felt fear and grief grip her throat as exhaustion took over. Her sword slipped from her hand, clattering to the pavement again as her legs gave out. Kristoff caught her before she fell and lowered her to sit, holding her tight as she buried her face in his shoulder.

"…She's in the urn."

Kristoff nodded once when he felt Anna tremble in his embrace. He remembered, too, and he knew just as well that if they didn't act soon, nothing would be the same with their family again.

* * *

 _Queen Elsa closed her eyes and sat back in her chair with a small, pleasant smile. If she could figure out how to make time stop, she'd pause her life right then. Everything around her was so… perfect._

 _Her workload had been light enough to allow her to enjoy time out of her study. She was able to visit with Ingrid often during the week she stayed in the castle, and was there to bid her goodbye that morning when she left to return home to Eiskurr. Later that afternoon, Elsa spent time with Olaf in the library, setting him up with a small easel and paint as she worked on her own piece. Anna and Kristoff came up about an hour later, bringing lunch with them for a "picnic" around the coffee table. They laughed and told stories together, Kristoff played his lute… it was a welcome escape from Elsa's usual queenly duties._

 _She opened her eyes and looked to a painting at the side of her study. It was of Storybrooke's clock tower, reading 8:16 to commemorate the first time she and Anna saw the minute hand move. The life she had there, the people she met… it felt as much of a dream as it was a nightmare that didn't end for 28 years. It was such a simple life, but just like Arendelle, it had its difficulties._

 _The one thing that she was thankful for was that in both worlds, she had a certain red-headed constant._

 _Elsa giggled to herself when she heard a hasty, rhythmic knock at her door before it burst open. Anna rushed in, wide-eyed and frantic as she barreled into the desk, having the foresight to put her hand over the inkpot to keep it from splashing. "Elsa, this is terrible!"_

 _Those were words she hadn't expected to hear. Sensing the dread in her sister's voice, Elsa quickly stood. "What is it? What's wrong?"_

"… _I can't decide which napkin rings to use!" Anna cried, pouting as Elsa sat down with a huff and cracked a wry smile. "This isn't funny! Look, look at this," she begged, pulling four metal rings out of the pocket of her skirt to show her. "Silver or gold? And this one's got cool rosemaling, but this one has the crocus… why does this have to be so hard?! We have 8,000 salad plates that all look the same, but nooo, we have to have_ ten _different types of napkin rings that match the table arrangements."_

" _Anna—"_

" _TEN, ELSA."_

"… _Are you done?"_

 _Anna slapped the rings on the desk and smoothed out her skirt. "Yes, I think so," she said, sounding prim and proper now after venting. Elsa offered her a sympathetic smile and reached across the desk, grabbing her hand._

" _Anna, I'm sure whichever one you choose will be fine."_

" _But…"_

" _Trust me. Except don't use the gold ones with the crocus because I used those for my coronation."_

 _Anna quickly snatched one of the gold rings off the desk and tossed it over her shoulder. "Well that narrows it down…"_

 _Sitting back, Elsa watched as Anna tried to decide between the remaining three. "Have you decided on centerpieces yet?"_

" _Well, yeah, you kind of made that part easy. We might have ice sculptures on some of the tables, though."_

" _Cake flavors?"_

 _Anna scrunched her nose, seriously considering one of the silver rings. "Alternating tiers of red velvet and white chocolate with raspberry. Good job steering Kristoff away from carrot, by the way."_

" _Of course. And the dress?"_

 _She waited patiently for an answer, though it was clear by the way Anna wouldn't look up at her that she didn't have anything to tell her. "Anna, I told you to talk to the tailor last week!"_

" _I know! I mean, I've been so busy," Anna explained, rubbing her nose with the excuse. "What with the sword training and the planning and Ingr—uh… I just haven't had time, so…"_

 _Holding her chin in thought, Elsa listened as Anna continued to ramble on a list of excuses, growing a smirk as it continued into the absurd. Finally, she rose from her seat, took her sister's hand and pulled her towards the door of the study. "C'mon, follow me."_

" _Uh, where are we going? I thought you were working?" Anna asked, pointing to the desk behind them and the paperwork Elsa was hoping to accomplish. The queen simply waved her hand to dismiss it._

" _It can wait. Besides, I wanted to give you a present."_

"… _Christmas was like, over a month ago."_

" _This isn't a Christmas present, Anna; it's for your_ wedding. _"_

* * *

It felt like she was just there yesterday. Sparkling blue waters, towering, snow-capped mountains… a village hidden within the fjord, protected by walls and a guardian castle at the ocean's approach. It was home, this stony land of Arendelle, and though it was just a painting, Anna was lost in the brushstrokes and memories of the landscape.

She squeezed her eyes shut. There was no way she could look at that painting, remember Arendelle, or even sit on the couch in the apartment without thinking of her sister. Flashbacks of the previous year ran her over like an endless train, and each memory hit her hard enough to send her flying off the tracks.

Even in the darkness behind her eyelids, she could hear her voice. She saw the fear in her eyes, the confusion, hurt, anger, and then… nothing. Elsa was gone.

… _I have to make this right._

But where to start? And how? Anna opened her eyes, hoping her family would have some ideas, but they had been dead silent ever since they retreated to the sisters' apartment. They were hurting just as much as she was; not _physically_ , but the way no one looked at each other told her enough. There was a lot for them to process.

She expected Kristoff to be quiet. His speech still came out as monkey chatter and his attempts at writing were nothing but scribbles. He wouldn't have much to say regardless, but he'd at least have some supportive words to share. It was thanks to him that Anna made it through the last month in the Enchanted Forest before the second curse swept them back to Storybrooke.

There were a few times when Olaf looked like he'd pipe up with something, but then he'd cross his arms and look at the floor, stuck on his own thoughts. Meanwhile, Marshmallow sat by himself in front of Elsa's easel. His cheeks were pink and his jaw was set; he looked ready to explode at any second, and Anna knew it was her fault that he felt that way.

She felt a hand on her leg and looked down, finding Kristoff looking up at her with wide red eyes. He pointed to a tear in her jeans, where the claws of a flying monkey caused the only injury to their family at the docks. "It's not deep and it doesn't hurt much," Anna smiled. "I'll take care of it in a minute. Right now I just… need to figure out what I'm gonna do."

"Mary-Margaret's having her baby soon," Olaf reminded. He had been hiding in the boathouse with Marshmallow, Sven, Killian and Henry when the Charming family came to their rescue. After fighting off the monkeys, Emma was able to bring Henry's memories back, and Regina broke the second curse with a kiss upon his forehead. It was after then that Mary-Margaret went into labor, which only meant one thing.

They were running out of time. As soon as the baby was born, Zelena would come to steal it away for use in her time-traveling spell. Whether the spell would harm the newborn or not, nobody knew, but they were just as afraid for what Zelena's victory meant for Elsa.

"Dammit, she was right there!" Anna cursed. She smacked her leg with her fist, narrowly avoiding the scratch but succeeding in drawing out its pain. "Tch… that time I went to the farmstead with stupid Hans, Zelena held out the urn and I didn't even know. Elsa could be home already."

"You would have been hurt."

Anna looked across the room at Marshmallow. His bright blue eyes were hard and cold, but they carried the same vulnerability as his mother's. "Zelena is dangerous. She's keeping Mama for a reason and doesn't want us to have her. She'd fight you if you tried to take her."

"Yeah… but we can beat her, right?" Olaf asked. The more he thought about it, the wider his smile grew. "Zelena's a bad person, but good _always_ beats evil!"

Marshmallow shook his head. "Her magic is too strong, and we don't have any."

"So? We have to try. She has Elsa, and Elsa is our family. Family doesn't give up on each other, right, Anna?"

It was with a curt nod that Anna readily agreed, but she had her doubts about facing the Wicked Witch again. They got lucky in Arendelle when they stopped Zelena at the chapel; the witch was so distracted by hubris that she was thrown off-guard by any attack or witty one-liner they threw at her. Now on the cusp of victory, Zelena would be a fool if she let anyone get close to her.

" _How could you possibly hope to stand up to Zelena with the way you are? You have no magic."_

Ingrid's words played over and over in Anna's mind, stinging now when they hadn't before. Aside from her golden heart, she was completely ordinary: Just a clumsy princess with a few sword skills and enough luck to keep her alive.

But she was strong, too. Brave. Courageous. Daring and reckless where others would exercise caution. To her it wasn't much, but it would have to be enough.

 _If I was the one in trouble, Elsa would be out the door already. Why am I hesitating?_

Anna stood up from the couch, looking at the painting of Arendelle as though she was facing her sister. There were so many things she wanted to say to her, to apologize for, to scream about and cry over, but she'd never get the chance if she didn't do something now.

"I promised I'd make this right. I'm not gonna stop fighting for her until she's home again."

Olaf was beaming, happy to see Anna maintaining her resolve despite the odds against her. It was clear by the look in her eye that she was determined to bring an end to this dark return to Storybrooke and make her family whole again. The path that would reunite her with her sister was unsure and treacherous, but looking at her now, both Kristoff and Marshmallow could tell she was ready to brave it.

She turned to face them, finding Kristoff and the boys all looking to her with warm smiles and hope in their eyes. They believed in her, and thanks to them, she firmly believed the day would end in triumph as well. "I'm gonna take care of this scratch and make a few phone calls," Anna said, feeling encouraged as she excused herself from the room. "You guys just… chill out or play charades or something for a little bit. I'll be right back."

She hurried into the hallway and retrieved the first aid kit from the bathroom, taking it back to her bedroom so she could properly tend to her leg. She flicked on the lights as she stepped inside and threw the kit to her bed, taking the time to look around.

It had been a while since she was last in her own room; the cabin felt just as much her home as the apartment did. She sat down on the side of the bed, forgetting how unsupportive the worn springs were after 28 years of sleeping on it. The walls were also too bright when compared to the earthy tones of the cabin or the warm pink of her first bedroom. One thing that hadn't changed between the spaces, though, was the clutter. Anna had a tendency to throw clothes or items just about anywhere whenever she was in a rush to leave. Even the nightstand couldn't be spared from—

She stilled when she happened to look at it. Resting at the base of the lamp were two pieces of jewelry she had forgotten about when she returned to Storybrooke.

 _Wow, that curse sure did a number on me. How could I forget about these?_

Anna reached for the trinkets, reminiscing how she acquired them when one began to sparkle in the light of her room.

* * *

" _Uh… okay, so is this what you wanted to show me? I mean, no offense, Sis, but…"_

" _If you'd take the time to look around—"_

"… _It's an attic."_

 _It had taken some time to get there from Elsa's study on the main floor of the castle, allowing Anna to dream all the way what kind of gift her thoughtful sister was giving her for the wedding. They'd gone deep into the eastern wing towards their parents' old bedroom. Close to their quarters, Elsa opened a plain door that led to a rickety staircase._

 _At the end of the staircase was another door, which led to where they were now: a small, windowed room filled with nothing but old trunks, knickknacks and dust._

" _I found it when I went on one of my more recent walks," Elsa explained as she pushed Anna to the center of the floor. "I think I'm finally catching up to your curiosity about what's behind every door in the castle."_

 _Anna giggled as she began to wander around. "Pro tip: Don't open random doors when we have visiting dignitaries because that is just_ awkward _," she grinned, thinking back to her mischievous youth. "I've never been up here before, though. I only ever came down this way to see Mom and Dad." She rocked on her heels, holding her hands behind her back to resist touching everything in sight; a LOT of it looked old and fragile. "So… what was it you wanted to show me?"_

" _It's just a little something," Elsa smiled as she walked past Anna. She went to an old, paint-chipped wardrobe, and paused for a moment when she grasped the doorknobs. "I think the person who used to own this would want you to have it, too."_

 _Elsa looked back, catching Anna's confused stare from over her shoulder just before she pulled the doors open and stepped aside. What she revealed left her little sister shocked._

 _It was an elegant white wedding dress, far from Arendelle's traditional ceremonial garb and inspired by kingdoms in the south. Shimmering crystals and beads had been stitched into the lace draped over the sides of the skirt, accented by floral patterns that continued up into the short sleeves. It was the rosemaling embroidery on the bodice that tied it all together, and gave a clue to the previous owner's identity._

" _Is that…?" Anna breathed, unable to speak her assumption._

 _Elsa nodded. "Mother's, yes." She reached out for Anna's hand, silently urging her to come closer. "I'd been looking for it for some time. It took a little longer because of the curse, but since you haven't spoken with the tailor yet, I thought if you were willing…"_

 _The moment Elsa took her hand, Anna understood what she was trying to say. "…No, no, Elsa, you're the first born, you should—"_

" _It's not meant for me." Elsa looked at Anna with a warm smile, confident and happy in her decision. "Besides, I think if you tried it on, you'll find that it suits you."_

"… _You want me to_ wear _it?" Anna asked in surprise. Elsa raised a brow, making Anna roll her eyes at herself. "Of course you want me to wear it. Why else would we be here?" she mumbled nervously as Elsa took the dress off the hangar. She held it up to Anna, judging the size at first, and then pushed it into her arms, eyeing her with an odd look when she hesitated to take it. Leaning back, Elsa held her chin as she looked Anna up and down, only adding to the bride-to-be's nerves. "What's wrong?"_

" _It's missing something…" Elsa mused, drawing her sister to wonder what it might be. The elder shook her fair head, dismissing the thought for now. "We'll figure it out later. Let's see how the dress looks first!" she smiled, pushing Anna behind a curtain to get changed. Anna giggled all the way, nervously expressing how she hoped that she wouldn't ruin the dress on the big day, not getting any reassurance from her sister that she wouldn't._

 _Content to browse the antiquities as she waited, Elsa folded her arms and slowly walked around the room, her mind focused on the upcoming wedding in summer. "So about the ceremony…" she started, thinking about the royals and dignitaries who would be in attendance. "…Please don't tell me I have to walk down the aisle with Sven."_

" _Ah…_ well… _he_ is _the best man, so…"_

" _And now is where you tell me you're joking."_

 _Anna's silence told her everything she didn't want to hear, and she felt her face flush just at the idea of it. Sven was family, yes, but…_

" _Oh, hey, don't think you're getting out of dancing, either," Anna added, much to Elsa's chagrin._

" _I have to dance with_ Sven? _"_

" _No, of course not! Elsa, I know I'm putting you through a lot with this wedding, but I'm not THAT cruel!" Anna laughed. "Seriously, though: you gotta dance. I have an instructor coming next month to start teaching you and Kristoff, so you should be pros by summer!"_

 _If only she could see her pout, Anna would have laughed at Elsa's sudden regret of her position. There was no getting out of it, not like she did at her coronation ball._

 _Nervous thoughts aside, Elsa was pleased that the wedding preparations were finally on track. She smiled as she looked across the room, spying her own reflection in the clear parts of an otherwise dirty mirror. The gem of her necklace shone in the reflection despite the dull tone of the rest of the image._

 _Regardless of where it had come from, the constant reminder of Anna's spirit had given Elsa the strength and courage to forge through her recent bout of magical distress. With a rueful smile, she broke off the chain of ice that kept the gem secure around her neck. It was time to finally pay back the promise she made on the day of her retreat to the ice palace._

 _The gem caught a sudden shine and sparkle as she held it between her fingers, and the room glowed brighter because of it. Elsa looked up, bewildered by the phenomenon until she realized that the curtains had been pulled back. She hid the gem in her hand, almost dropping it in the motion when she turned towards the window and found herself breathless._

 _Backed by the light shining behind her, Anna stepped out from behind the curtains, unable to fight away her smile as she awaited Elsa's judgement. "It… it fits," she said, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her right ear. She bit her lip, trying not to laugh as Elsa just stood there, unable to speak. "Does it look okay?"_

 _It took a moment for Elsa to blink out of her stupor as she was caught in the same recurring thought: Her little sister was getting_ married.

" _Anna… it's wonderful. You look beautiful," she repeated, her brain finally catching up to her heart as she stepped up to Anna and wrapped her in a warm hug. She squeezed her shoulders tight, fighting off tears of joy, so happy that she'd get to see the day her sister had been dreaming of for so long. "Mother and Father would be so proud."_

 _Anna nodded, stopping her own tears with a brave face. "I know they would. Thank you, Elsa."_

 _They pulled apart, both laughing at each other when they wiped their eyes, and then teased each other on who'd be the bigger mess at the wedding ceremony. Afterward, Elsa took her time assessing the condition of the dress, noting some places where the tailor could take it in to make it a better fit. "It's still missing something though," she wondered. "Hmm…I think I've got just the thing."_

 _Curious, Anna raised a brow with a question on her lips when she saw a peculiar blue glow coming from her sister's side. Elsa lifted her closed fist between them and swirled the air above it, casting her magic, creating something extraordinary that formed exactly to her mind's eye. When the glow of her magic faded, she uncurled her fingers and reached for the gift._

 _It was a delicate necklace made of ice, and Elsa's signature snowflake served as the pendant. Anna stared at it in wonder, amazed by the intricate details when she noted something brilliant shining in the center of the snowflake. "Wait… is that the gem I gave you?"_

" _I promised I'd give it back," Elsa smiled as she clasped the ends of the chain behind Anna's neck. "There. Something new to go with something borrowed."_

 _Anna lightly touched the pendant, afraid that it would melt from her warm fingertips despite knowing how hard it was to destroy her sister's thoughtful creations. "It's beautiful," she started, then shook her head, the word too soft to describe what Elsa had done for her. "I mean it's enchanting. I mean I love you!"_

" _You're very welcome!" Elsa laughed as she was tackled in another hug. As she held her, she couldn't help but think of the years they lost and the moments she missed as Anna grew up. To see her smile like this… to watch her face light up whenever she talked about Kristoff and how their little broken family would finally become official, well… Elsa was elated that she could be there for every moment of it._

 _She looked across the room, hoping this happiness could last forever, but the thought died as soon as she caught her reflection in the dirty mirror. Despite her recent efforts, the prophecy still loomed. If she wanted the future to remain as bright as her dreams, she had to take precautions while she still had time._

" _Anna… there's actually one more thing I want to give you."_

* * *

A small smile tugged at her lips when she stepped into the hall. _Elsa was so happy that day,_ Anna remembered as she looked up at her sister's door. She always hated that door, having it slammed in her face so many times that she cringed just thinking about it. Still, she never hated the person behind it, nor did she give up on her no matter how many times she wanted to.

They had gone through so much together, and Anna couldn't stand the thought of Elsa _not_ being on the other side of that door when she knocked.

She reached for the pendant of her necklace, missing the way the gem shimmered when she rested her fingers upon the snowflake. _Elsa, I know you're scared and upset right now, but just hang on a little longer, okay? We're coming to get you._

With a brave face, she walked out of the hall and into the living room, acknowledging Kai and Gerda with a quick hello as she marched past them into the kitchen.

"Anna, are you sure about this?" Kai worried. Gerda put a hand on his shoulder to keep him from chasing her around the apartment as she tried to get ready to leave. "This is _very_ dangerous!"

"Yeah, you could run into _flying monkeys_ , or _Zelena,_ " Olaf started, counting off the threats on his fingers, "or _Rumplestiltskin,_ or _Ingrid_ … or more _flying monkeys_ …"

Anna walked out of the kitchen with a Pop-Tart in her hand. "It's nothing different than what I've done before," she shrugged, taking a bite out of her snack as she headed towards the couch in the living room. "The stakes are just higher."

Kai wouldn't give up on trying to convince her to rethink her plan. "Even so—"

"Kai. I'm going."

He stilled, mouth parted as she stared back at him unblinking. Her turquoise eyes were clear and focused; her mind was made up, and she was going to do everything in her power to come home victorious.

But in an instant, the image of that stoic, brave young woman turned back into typical Princess Anna, holding a Pop-Tart between her teeth as she started strapping her sword to her waist. "I talked it over with Emma," she explained, taking a bite from the pastry before setting it down on the coffee table. "Everyone's at the hospital right now because they know Zelena's going to come after the baby. While they're busy trying to stop her, Kristoff and I are going to the farmstead to steal back the urn."

Kai raised his brows. "This sounds _awfully_ familiar."

"Well yeah, that's because I already tried doing it. I couldn't bring Elsa back the first time because I didn't know where she was. Now I do." Anna tightened the last belt and buckled it with a smirk, looking down at Kristoff by her side. "And if I didn't go that first time, I wouldn't know what the farmstead looked like, and I wouldn't have gotten Kristoff back, either. I'm actually a _lot_ more prepared now than I was before."

Reassurance aside, Kai still wasn't convinced this was a good idea. His protests were silenced, however, when Gerda placed a hand on his shoulder. "Anna is strong," she told him, watching her charge as she was tackled in hugs from Olaf and Marshmallow. "You remember her bravery during our last months in Arendelle, don't you? She will be fine."

Kai placed his hand atop Gerda's. "I still worry for them."

"You always have. They aren't children anymore. All we can do now is support them."

And so Kai relented, wishing luck upon Anna when she hugged him goodbye and requesting Kristoff's protection of her before they left. As the couple stood in the doorway, Kai was reminded of the last time he saw them before the second curse swept through Arendelle. Unsure of what they were doing but confident in each other, they walked out with a goal in mind, intent to see it through to the end.

Anna closed the door to the apartment, hesitating a moment before she followed Kristoff down the hall and then down the stairway. "I feel kinda bad for leaving Olaf and Marshmallow behind."

Kristoff nodded, feeling the same, but they both understood why they had to leave the boys at home. They weren't made of magic and snow in this world; they could get hurt. The close calls they had with Peter Pan and the recent monkey scare was enough for Anna to request that they sat this fight out.

When they walked outside the front doors to the building, Anna laughed when she saw Sven waiting for them, standing in a heroic, courageous pose. "Oh, you called a chauffeur?" Anna joked, placing her hand over her heart when Kristoff jumped up on Sven's back. "What a gentleman!"

He held out a paw to her with a sly smile, but his grin faltered just a little when he noticed what Anna was wearing on her hand. He tried to say something; it came out as squeaks, of course, so he pointed at her, emphasizing a particular spot on her finger.

She didn't need to look down to know what he spotted. "I didn't mean to forget it," Anna said as she wiggled her fingers, showing off her silver engagement ring. She took Kristoff's outstretched paw and climbed onto Sven's back, taking a seat in the saddle behind her fiancé. Wrapping her arms around his middle, she looked over his shoulder and smiled when the glow of his crystal necklace made the metal of her ring come to life. "As soon as we make sure Elsa's safe, I promise we'll find a way to turn you back."

As gentle as he could, Kristoff squeezed Anna's hand and nodded. For as much as he wanted to be human again, he could only imagine how terrible it was to be trapped in that urn. He could wait.

"Okay, here goes nothing… let's go Sven!"

With a proud cry, Sven took off into the streets of Storybrooke, heading towards the forest edge of town. Anna leaned over and held onto his harness, emboldened by the wind through her hair and the thunder of Sven's hooves upon the pavement. It wasn't until they got onto Main Street that she had a sobering thought.

"…We should probably come up with an actual strategy in case we run into Zelena, huh?"

Kristoff rolled his eyes and groaned, dragging his paws down his face. They were _so_ dead.


	13. The Damned and the Fallen

"Okay… if I was Zelena and I wanted to hide an urn containing a very powerful, super awesome ice queen, it'd probably be down here. At least I hope it is."

If it wasn't there, then it was inside the farmhouse. A good thing then that she already had Kristoff ransacking the place.

Returning to the cellar was creepier the second time down, considering Anna barely managed to escape the last time with her humanity intact. Hans' squad car parked outside was a stark reminder of what was in store for her if she failed or allowed herself to get distracted. So far she was alone down here; Mr. Gold's cage was empty, proof that she was right in assuming that he'd been forced to escort Zelena to the hospital.

The only problem was that the space was small, and her luck was running out quicker than she expected. She searched the shelves and behind crates, kicked over barrels and knocked on the walls to search for loose or fake stone. As she moved, all she could think about was how Elsa was faring inside the urn. Was she starving in there? Could she breathe? Or did it trap her like a genie, shrinking her down to wander that itty bitty living space forever until someone let her out?

In truth, Elsa was in more danger than she knew; she was powerless inside the urn and helpless to fight against whatever Zelena had in store for her. The thought motivated Anna to search every inch of that cellar until she came up with something or nothing at all.

As her resolve hardened, her luck turned. In the darkest corner of the cellar was a crate, but the top was lifted, unable to fit whatever it contained. She threw the lid to the floor and reached inside, lifting the handles of a small chest to pull it out and place it on top of a barrel.

… _Of course it's locked._

All the more reason to believe the chest was hiding something important. She looked down to her side, staring at the pommel of her sword. At the right angle and with enough strength, maybe she could break it.

She just drew the weapon as one of the doors to the cellar creaked open. She stilled, listening as light footfalls came down upon the wooden stairs, and backed as far as she could into the corner. In a situation like this, she was trained to stay hidden and observe her enemy to determine if they were worth engaging.

 _Ah, screw it._

In her opinion, it was a better strategy to take the enemy by surprise from the get-go. She ran from the shadows, lifted her sword high above her head, and then screamed as the flying monkey at the bottom of the stairs held up its hands and screeched.

Her sword arm fell to her side and she put her other hand over her heart. "Oh my _god_ , Kristoff! Don't scare me like that!"

He chattered back at her, pointing to the sword and then to the staircase, just as panicked as she was.

"Okay, okay! I'm sorry! I'm just a little jumpy right now," she said, looking away as she sheathed her sword. Kristoff couldn't blame her; coming back to the place where her first rescue attempt completely failed was brave, but unnerving at the same time. "You sent Sven back home, right?"

He nodded, feeling bad about having done so. They could have used Sven's help at the farmstead, but just like with Olaf and Marshmallow, they were afraid for his safety. Anna jokingly referred to it as the "Elsa Strategy," understanding now how easy it was to protect her loved ones from danger if they weren't around it to begin with.

She vowed not to make a habit of it.

"Did you find anything in the farmhouse? Aside from apples?" she laughed, reaching out and wiping a bit of green peel from Kristoff's furry cheek. He shook his head but raised his brows, wondering if Anna had better luck. "I _think_ I might have found something, but I need your help."

He followed Anna to the back of the cellar and jumped up on the barrel when she showed him the chest. "Do you think you can open it?"

Kristoff took his time assessing the lock and hinges, inspecting the chest as he would a block of ice. He placed one paw on the lid and held the lock with the other, concentrating for a moment before he yanked down on the lock as hard as he could.

Anna stood there in shock, watching Kristoff discard the metal remnants of the broken padlock. "Wow. Thank you for super-monkey strength, huh?" she joked, pinching Kristoff's cheek when he started kissing his biceps. She gave him a smart look before they opened the chest together.

They only got a brief glance at the contents: A broken sword, a brain made of gold and a heart as black as coal with a little spot of red. There was something bronze, too, but the chest and all disappeared in a cloud of green smoke before Anna could tell what it was.

"Oh no…"

She and Kristoff shared a quick glance at each other before they scrambled for the stairs. It didn't matter if the urn was in that chest or not; it was gone now, and there was only one other place on the farmstead left to search.

Right before he was about to burst out of the cellar, Kristoff saw something outside and stopped at the top step, causing Anna to bump her nose on one of his wings. "Ow, what are you doing? We have to—"

He clamped a paw over her mouth and put a finger to his lips, urging her to be quiet and keep still where they ducked on the stairway. Just as Kristoff turned to look back outside, Anna saw a figure pass by the cellar doors and felt her heart jump into her throat. As close as they were, they couldn't risk getting caught now.

They waited a few moments, neither one moving until Anna dared to. She pushed Kristoff's paw away from her face and crept up the stairs, poking her head out of the cellar just far enough to peer at the barn at the center of the farmstead. What she saw was far from encouraging.

The shadows moving inside were dark, but Anna could make out Mr. Gold's scraggly hair and Zelena's slim figure holding a bundle in her arms. "They got the baby," Anna whispered, having feared that the witch would nab the child right after it was born. The Charming family was likely on their way now, and with their rescue attempt came Anna's backup.

She was going to need it, too, because as though the Wicked Witch and the Dark One weren't enough to deal with, Ingrid was also on her way to the barn. Pursuing her own agenda, she stalked down the path with her fists at her sides, leaving a trail of ice in her wake.

Anna gulped. "This just got a whole lot harder."

Hard, but not impossible. Her hand rested on the pommel of her sword, a pose so instinctual to her that she almost forgot the weapon was there. One look down at it, though, and she remembered that it was much more than a steel blade, just as she was more than an ordinary princess.

 _I can do this._

* * *

 _Elsa looked so anxious that Anna thought she was going to have a heart attack._

 _It was a subtle change that grew once they came down from the attic. Elsa was once a master at hiding her emotions, but even the proper posture and stoic air of "Queen Mode" couldn't mask her pensive expression. She held the back of one hand in the palm of the other, a habit that started long ago in her youth that made Anna want to smack her hands apart._

 _It was typical Elsa behavior, and Anna wasn't too concerned about it until they passed the central staircase and Elsa started rambling. It didn't stop when they got to their destination, either._

"… _It's not actually a present for the wedding, it's, well… I suppose it's more of a "present" present, you know, just because."_

 _Anna rolled her eyes. When it came to gifts, Elsa never gave them "just because". There was a reason behind this. "Elsa, I'm sure whatever it is, it's fine! Just, ah… why are we in the library?"_

"… _Because I wasn't sure where else to hide it," Elsa explained as she crossed the room, leaving Anna behind in the middle. She held her hands together as she approached a desk beneath her painting of the Arendelle fjord, then knelt down to reach behind the workspace. "It'd make more sense to give it to you at the armory, but I didn't want to make a show of it. Master Rolf teased me enough when I asked for his help with it."_

 _Anna wondered what the gruff weapons master had to do with this until she saw what Elsa retrieved from behind the desk. It looked foreign and completely wrong in Elsa's delicate hands, but now Anna understood why she hesitated to gift it in the first place. "Elsa, are you sure?"_

" _I'm positive. I'm not giving this to you because I think you need it; I'm giving it to you because I want you to have it."_

 _Nervous, Anna carefully took the sword as it was held out to her. "Elsa, this is… wow," she breathed, pulling the new blade halfway out of its teal scabbard. The leather-wrapped grip felt comfortable in her hand, and the addition of a crocus in the golden pommel marked it fit for a royal. "Thank you."_

 _Elsa took her relief in a silent sigh, happy that Anna was pleased by the gift and not unnerved by it. "Just one more thing," she said, taking a step closer. "Can you hold the blade up for me? So the flat part is facing both of us."_

 _With a nod, Anna fully unsheathed the sword and held it up between her and Elsa, just as she was instructed. The weapon felt light in her hand but sturdy; if she was ever in a dangerous situation, she'd have no trouble wielding it._

 _Elsa, meanwhile, caught her own worried reflection in the steel. She took a deep breath and then reached out, her hands hovering above the weapon as blue magic glowed in her palms. "I've been working on a few spells since we returned to Arendelle," she said as snowflakes of her design began to sprout upon the blade. "I just never really knew how to make them work until after I met Ingrid. I guess you could say that both of you inspired me to find the missing piece."_

 _In Anna's opinion, she helped more than Ingrid did, regardless if it was true or not. "So… what is it that you're doing, exactly?"_

" _I'm enchanting the sword."_

"… _You can_ do _that?"_

" _Regina gave me the idea, actually," Elsa admitted. "I'm limited to ice magic, but I'm discovering I can do a bit more than build with it. This enchantment will allow the sword to cut through ice with little resistance. It'll reinforce the blade as well."_

 _As the snowflakes grew into each other, the sword took on a mystical blue glow, lighting up the room before it faded. The blade absorbed the magic completely, looking as elegant and ordinary as it did a minute ago. Elsa stepped back and held her hands together, watching Anna inspect it one more time._

" _It works on natural ice, of course. I'm not sure if it would work on Ingrid's magic, but…" Elsa looked away and folded her arms across her middle, "…it will definitely work on mine."_

 _By her timid stance and distant tone, Anna figured out the true intent behind the gift. "You're worried about the prophecy," she said, sheathing the sword and reaching out to Elsa when she closed her eyes in shame. "Hey, we don't know what's supposed to happen. This present is very,_ very _nice, don't get me wrong, but you didn't have to do all this because of a vision Mr. Gold had."_

 _Elsa opened her eyes, feeling the warmth of Anna's hand on her shoulder. How could she stay so optimistic? Sure, Elsa had been feeling the best she ever felt in years, but she still worried. Still doubted. "…I did this because I want to protect you." With a small smile, Elsa placed her hand on the pommel of the sword. "We may not know what the prophecy is, but I still want to take precautions. If something happens and I can't help you, you have to promise me that you'll use this to protect yourself, from my magic or otherwise."_

 _Anna nodded with a smile. "I will, I promise. But just so you know, I'm not gonna stop trying to protect you either, especially if this prophecy thing comes true."_

 _Elsa rolled her eyes and gave Anna a playful shove. "You are forever my reckless, persistent, stubborn right hand, and I love you for it. Of course I know. That's why I'm dedicating time each day for you to help me research the Wishing Star."_

" _Haha, ye—wait, what?" Anna almost dropped the sword in disbelief._

 _Did Elsa just say…?_

 _Yes. Yes she did. She wouldn't be smirking like that if she expected a different reaction from her little sister. "I really don't want you to have to use that sword," Elsa admitted; the thought of it terrified her. "I don't think prophecies can be stopped, but the Wishing Star is our best bet at doing just that."_

 _Anna couldn't help her giddy little grin. After calling it "hogwash" and "an old wives' tale", Elsa was finally starting to catch on to the myth both Anna and their father believed was real. "I knew you'd come around eventually," Anna laughed as she took Elsa's hand and led her out of the library. "C'mon! Let's start right now!"_

* * *

Kristoff couldn't believe his eyes: Anna was hesitating.

It was smart of her to do so, not knowing if Ingrid was in league with Zelena or not, but the look on her face was troubling. She knew where she wanted to be and what she had to do, but the roadblocks in her way appeared so suddenly it had taken her aback. For the moment, all they could do was wait it out and hope one of the villains would leave.

Of course, Anna wasn't very good at waiting. She lasted a whole three minutes before she bolted out of the cellar and started running towards the barn.

 _Well, there goes that,_ Kristoff thought to himself. He took off into the air and soared after her to catch up, then dropped to the ground and ran by her side on foot and paw. Taking up defensive positions on both sides of the barn door, Anna and Kristoff pressed their backs to the wall, trying to listen to the conversation taking place inside.

"…Now that the rabble's taken care of, all that's left to do is to put this little one in their spot and cast the spell. There we are… Rumple, you were so adamant that this couldn't be done, yet here I am, moments away from getting everything I want and all I deserve."

"That's a little cocky for someone who won't let a woman out of an urn. You'll still fail, dearie," Mr. Gold warned. "Others will come for them, and I swear the moment you drop that dagger—"

"Oh save it. They're all too late anyway, and no one really cares about the Snow Queen. Poor girl never stood a chance… once I step through the portal and secure my glorious future, I'll be sure to ruin hers. The threat of her power will be nothing but a dream."

Furious, Anna grabbed the hilt of her sword, ripped it from its sheath and stormed into the barn. "You're wrong," she declared, staring down Zelena. She took a bold stance, facing the witch and holding her blade at her side as Kristoff kept his position at the door. "Elsa has friends and a _family_ who loves her, and we're not going to stop fighting you until we get her back."

There was a brief moment for Anna to understand her surroundings before Zelena faced her. A magic circle had been carved into the floor at the middle of the barn, one ring inside of another with lines running from each cardinal direction to meet in the center. Like a compass, a small dish was placed at each point to hold an ingredient for the time spell. The broken sword, brain of gold and black heart were all present, along with the Charming's newborn who was resting in a basket at the western point.

Zelena rolled her eyes when she saw Anna standing there alone. "Oh look. More rabble," she scoffed. "For someone so incompetent, you _are_ persistent, I'll give you that."

Anna opened her mouth to retort, but Zelena cut her off by holding up her hand.

"No, I already know what you're going to say next. "Where's Elsa?" Am I right?" She smirked at Anna's silence and stepped to the side, bringing Mr. Gold forward with a wave of the dagger. "She's safe… for now."

He held the urn in both hands, but his arms shook as he struggled to drop it. He looked to Anna with a plea in his eye, shifting his gaze between her and the dagger. If she could free him, he would release Elsa and help them fight Zelena. It made her think of another ally she could possibly recruit to the cause, if only she knew where she was. "Then what happened to Ingrid? I saw her come up here."

Zelena smiled. "Oh, she's here. Look behind you."

Alarmed, Anna readied her sword and glanced over her shoulder, but was confused by what she found. "There's no one there but a… bunny."

The white rabbit looked up at Anna with cold blue eyes. Even as a cotton-tailed, floppy-eared rodent, Ingrid still managed to give her the chills.

"As far as friends go, she's the only one who bothered to show up. Her rescue attempt was beyond pathetic," Zelena drawled as Ingrid scurried for the open door. Anna could see now that there was frost hidden among the straw on the ground, but even the thicker patches were quickly melting. "I assumed that all ice wielders were strong but she was an outstanding exception. Your sister put up a better fight with her hand frozen to a table."

"Elsa's got nothing to do with your plan. You have your ingredients," Anna reminded, ever aware of the newborn resting in a basket to her right. "You don't have to let her out. Just give me the urn and I'll walk away."

She swallowed hard as Zelena seemed to contemplate the offer, holding her stance in case the witch chose to attack instead of letting her leave. Zelena stepped towards her, running her gloved fingers across the decorations on the Dark One's dagger. "So you'd gladly leave behind a helpless, innocent child just to go home with your menace of a sibling?"

Anna could feel herself sweating despite the cool air in the barn. Of course she wasn't going to leave without the baby. Her priority was freeing Elsa, that hadn't changed, but the moment she saw the newborn and Mr. Gold in Zelena's grasp, this became a three-way rescue mission.

Zelena raised her head when Anna refused to answer. "Right. I didn't think so. Rumple, be a dear and get rid of her. _Now._ "

She pointed the dagger and Mr. Gold was unable to disobey her command. He stumbled towards Anna, still struggling to let go of the urn as he cradled it to his chest. "I can't stop this," he seethed, fighting to keep his free hand at his side. "If you came here alone, you're going to die!"

With a cry of anguish, Mr. Gold thrust his right hand forward, unleashing a wave of force upon Anna and a certain flying monkey who dove in between them.

Kristoff took the brunt of the blast, protecting Anna from most of the hit. The remainder of the attack she blocked with her sword, which did nothing more than force her to take a step back.

She lowered her weapon, looking up to see Kristoff glancing back at her to make sure she was okay. As far as she could tell, all he suffered from the attack was a bad case of mussed fur.

It would take a _lot_ more than that to knock them down. They had a sister to save.

Anna readied her sword once more. "I'm not alone," she stated, looking straight at Mr. Gold, and then focusing her steely glare at Zelena. "And we're not afraid of _you_."

She and Kristoff darted away from each other, each drawing the attention of one of the villains in an effort to steal what they held. Mr. Gold kept his eye on Kristoff, watching him as he jumped up into the rafters and navigated the wooden beams. Anna, meanwhile, pressed her luck with Zelena, making a grab for the dagger as she ran past and backpedaling to the edge of the circle when a fireball was launched at her feet.

"Yeow! Hey, watch what you're doing! You could hit the baby!"

Zelena narrowed her gaze. "Then stop moving."

Up in the rafters, Kristoff looked down upon the scene, making sure Anna was okay on her own before he returned his focus to Mr. Gold. The Dark One had yet to make a move against him and the urn rocked in his shaky hand, so desperate to let go that he looked pained when he couldn't. He, too, saw how easily Anna distracted Zelena, providing them an opportunity whether she knew it or not.

In a moment of strength and defiance, Mr. Gold held out the urn, and Kristoff dove down from the rafters. He reached for it, fingers inches away from the bronze when something slammed into his side, knocking him to the dirt and sending him tumbling out of the barn.

A loud screech filled the air, turning Anna and Zelena's attention away from each other and to the open doors. Baring his fangs and claws, Hans loomed over Kristoff, waiting for him to recover and stand before he attacked him again. "It's about time you showed up," Zelena smirked, pleased when she saw Kristoff fly away on the defensive with her cursed pet in pursuit. She looked over her shoulder and set her sights on Anna. "Now, where were we…?"

With a swing of the dagger, Mr. Gold was sent into motion, tucking the urn in his arm as he pressed the attack against Anna with a slew of fireballs. She ducked and sidestepped each one, maneuvering through the onslaught when her foot caught in the outer trench of the magic circle. She tripped and fell back to her rear, scrambling to get to her feet again when she saw the fire growing in Mr. Gold's palm.

There was no way she'd get up in time to dodge it; the flame was already screaming towards her as she was on her knees. Taking her only option, Anna held up her sword and braced her free arm against it, closing her eyes just before the magic struck.

She heard and felt the impact upon the weapon as the heat engulfed her, but the painful burn she expected never came. Anna opened her eyes to find that the blade of her sword had sprouted snowflakes to diffuse the flames and was emitting a soft blue glow, not unlike the aura of a certain sorceress she knew.

"Thanks, Elsa," she whispered, watching the glow fade out as she got back to her feet. More comfortable with her odds now, Anna settled into a guard stance, anticipating the next fireball Mr. Gold threw at her.

She batted it away towards Zelena, sending it off with such a fierce backhand that the fireball exploded at her feet. The move earned her the witch's ire and her piercing stare through the smoke.

"Enough of this," Zelena growled. She threw another fireball close to Anna but out of her reach, using the distraction and her magic to rip the sword from her hands. She sent it flying across the barn and stuck it deep within a support post. "You are _nothing_ compared to me," Zelena hissed, pulling Anna's feet out from under her with a wave of her hand. "You're just an annoying flea who keeps getting in my way!"

Anna just managed to sit up before she was forced back down by Zelena's magic, gasping for air as the pressure threatened to crush her. She struggled to move as Zelena loomed over her with a tight-lipped frown. "I… won't _stop…!_ "

She grit her teeth as Zelena sent her skidding towards the wall, scraping her back across the dirt floor and hitting each divot and trench of the magic circle along the way. Unblinking, Zelena followed her, stopping within the circle with Mr. Gold by her side.

"Your blind faith in Elsa will kill you." She thrust her hand forward, throwing Anna against the wall. "You've taken my future from me before, but not this time. _This_ time, I'm going to get what I want, and everything you _ever_ loved will be gone!"

Anna struggled to breathe as the pressure increased upon her. The wood at her back creaked in strain as Zelena threatened to push her through. She couldn't turn her head or even wiggle her fingers; all she could do was look at the dark corner of the barn and watch as a flying monkey crashed through the roof. It struck the floor, tumbling in a heap of limbs and wings before it came to a stop in the dirt.

 _Kristoff…?_

He looked beat up and dazed, fighting just to get to his hands and knees. Anna silently begged him to get up, afraid of what would happen if he didn't, and then promptly joined him on the ground when she was released from the pressure upon her. She breathed deep as feeling came back to her numb muscles, but she couldn't mistake the prickling sensation of magic running up her arms and sending a chill down her spine.

She looked up, expecting and witnessing the worst. Zelena raised her arms, summoning her power to initiate the time spell.

 _C'mon, think, THINK…! You can still stop this!_

Anna's options were limited; her sword was severely out of reach, and both Mr. Gold and Zelena were practically untouchable without it. It wasn't until she heard the fearful cry of the newborn that she knew what she had to do.

She scrambled to her feet, making a mad dash across the barn to get the baby to safety. The child began to glow with a soft blue aura, illuminated by the spell, and as Anna reached for the basket of its cradle, she felt a strong hand clamp around her wrist to pull her back.

Instinct took over. Anna pivoted, jerked her arm in, and swiftly kicked Hans between the legs. His claws caught the sleeve of her sweater and tore the material from her forearm as he fell. "You deserved that one a _long_ time ago," Anna said, feeling some smug satisfaction when Hans crumpled to his knees.

Small victory aside, Zelena's spell was growing stronger, and the baby's cry was frantic. The only plan Anna had now was to take the child into her arms, run like hell, and hope her backup was waiting outside. She took one step back towards the basket, and the moment her foot hit the ground, Hans snapped his head up. He growled, baring his fangs as his beady red eyes glared straight through her.

He shouldn't have recovered as quickly as he did, and Anna was unprepared for his heartless retaliation. She threw her hands up to protect her face when she saw him reach for her, helpless to do anything but struggle when he grabbed her wrists instead. For all the strength she possessed, it only bought her a few moments before Hans was able to pull apart her arm block. He pulled her right arm close to his face, squeezed her wrist tight, and then sunk his teeth into her bare skin.

Anna screamed, voice cracking as it filled the barn to the rafters. Blood raced down her arm, dripping off her elbow and staining the remnants of her sleeve as she tried to shake Hans off. His fangs felt like daggers in her flesh, leaving a row of deep punctures on both sides of her arm when he finally let go. Knowing what was to come, Hans pushed Anna to the ground and backed away, leaving her to her fate.

The blood didn't scare her, and neither did the wound. The punctures stung, but the bite started a fire in her veins that left her reeling. She cradled her arm as the burn spread to her elbow and nipped at her wrist, searing every muscle and nerve it spread to like an infection… or a _curse._

Gritting her teeth, Anna sat up, feeling a soft breeze through her hair despite the havoc ripping through her arm. She opened her eyes, looking at the center of the barn to find Zelena grinning back at her. The energies of the four ingredients she gathered swirled around her and coalesced in the center of the circle, forming a golden pool of magic that looked akin to a portal.

"Some hero you are." Zelena laughed as she watched Anna struggle to get to her feet. "You can't even save a baby from a _monkey._ "

Anna refused to give in, but as the wildfire in her blood surged across her chest, she grew weak and fell to her knees. Her heart began to race and her breathing became labored, making her feel so small and pathetic beneath the gaze of the witch.

"Didn't I tell you, Princess?"

Zelena flicked her wrist, summoning the urn to her hand in a cloud of green smoke.

"Wicked _always_ wins."

Overcome by pain, Anna dropped her head and closed her eyes, seething when all of the muscles in her right arm tensed against her will. "P-Please…" She shuddered and looked up through her bangs at Zelena. For all the hope, confidence and belief she had that this day would end in victory, she was beaten beyond belief. She was injured, bleeding profusely and unable to protect herself; she couldn't even _stand_. "Please… you have everything you want now. Just let her go."

It was disgusting the amount of joy Zelena took in watching her grovel. "Honestly, it'd be more fun to watch you fight her once you transform into one of my beautiful pet darlings," she said, stroking the cap of the urn. She then looked down to the portal at her feet. "But… since you _are_ the last of her family, I suppose I should respect your wishes and just "let her go"."

Zelena knelt down and held the urn over the pool of magic.

"No… Zelena, wait! Don't!"

Their eyes met, panicked turquoise against vengeful blue. Anna screamed, and Zelena smirked as the bronze urn slipped from her fingers and fell through the portal.

"Oops."

The magic took the urn without reason or remorse, transporting it to somewhere beyond this realm and to a time unknown.

And piece by piece, second by agonizing second, Anna felt her world falling apart.

* * *

"… _Hey Elsa?"_

" _Hm?"_

" _How exactly do you "forge" a star?"_

 _To be honest, the question came up so many times in her own mind that Elsa was surprised Anna didn't ask it sooner. They'd both made themselves comfortable in the study, surrounded by books and tomes of their ancestors, staving off the winter day before a warm fire. It turns out their father wasn't the first in their family to pursue the Wishing Star: their grandfather, and his grandfather before him mentioned it at least once. It forced the sisters to backtrack through the tomes of the old kings to see if they could discover their insight upon the fabled object._

 _One thing Elsa noticed was that no one knew if the star was real, but they all hoped it had been for various reasons. Her great-great-great grandfather wanted to wish for a plentiful harvest because the previous winter had been so bad; another of her ancient relatives wanted to keep Arendelle safe from war. Her father never explicitly stated why he was searching for it, but she had a strong feeling that it had to do with her._

"… _If I had to take a guess," Elsa started, still focused on a tome in her lap, "the "star" is metaphorical. It could just be a shape, or a representation of some kind of power. Stars are thousands of miles away; you can't just make one."_

" _Well duh! I know that much!_

 _Elsa shrugged and rolled her eyes. "You asked. I answered."_

 _Anna stuck her tongue out at her and Elsa mimicked the move, breaking out into giggles which she covered with her hand. It made Anna smile to see her so relaxed now, and just to spend time with her was wonderful. They had a lot of work ahead of them in chasing this myth, but so far it was fun. They were learning a lot about their ancestors too, even in the short amount of time they'd been researching._

 _Stuck on a thought, Anna put a mark in her notebook and set it down. "So… just so I know we're on the same page, if we get the Wishing Star, we're wishing away the prophecy, right?"_

" _It's the only chance we have at avoiding it completely," Elsa said with a grave nod. "Then again, finding out what the prophecy actually is would be more than helpful."_

" _We can see if Grand Pabbie discovered anything or has an idea on where to start looking," Anna suggested. She tapped her pen against her chin, thinking about the last few months and the threats that came after them since their return. "I know you're gonna hate me for saying this, but we should probably find out what that urn does, too." She turned back, expecting the sick look on Elsa's face. "Hey, Zelena wouldn't have threatened you with it for nothing. Maybe it's part of this whole thing."_

 _Or maybe it was a way to keep Elsa from enacting the prophecy. Both Rumplestiltskin and Zelena seemed ready to use it on her, and the sight of it alone overwhelmed her with dread. She took a deep breath and sighed; as much as she hated to admit it, Anna was right._

" _We'll see. For now, let's focus on the Wishing Star."_

"' _Kay."_

 _They both returned to their work, sitting in silence for a few seconds before Anna turned around again. "Oh, hey, one more thing."_

 _Elsa slowly tore her eyes away from the tome, letting go of the reading when she saw a bright smile on her sister's face. The sun shone on her hair, setting it ablaze in copper, and the light danced in her eyes and off the gem of her new necklace._

" _Thank you for letting me help you with this."_

 _With a warm smile, Elsa nodded. Her retreat to the North Mountain rejuvenated her; the problems she dealt with were now clear and she was capable of handling them and casting them away. But what still stood in her way were the unknowns: the prophecy, the urn, Zelena's vendetta against her and Arendelle's strained relations with the Southern Isles. Not to mention, she still had yet to hear from Snow White or anyone else from Storybrooke since their return._

 _The future was scary and uncertain, but one thing Elsa knew for sure was that whatever came her way, she'd get through it so long as Anna was by her side._

" _Forever frozen, Anna. I can't do it without you."_

* * *

"…Elsa."

She struggled to breathe, rasping as her pounding heart clouded her vision and mind. From the corner of her eye she saw a group of people approaching the barn entrance, but she couldn't tear her blurred sights from the portal before her.

For now, the spell was working to keep the portal open. She still had time.

Anna tried to stand and fell to her knees, never looking away from the portal as voices rang out across the barn. Through her tense, screaming muscles and blood on fire, she tried again and fell forward, distraught when her knees struck the ground. She was closer, but not close enough.

 _I can't lose her. I can't. Not like this._

She'd _crawl_ there if she had to. She dug her fingers into the dirt, using what strength she had left to pull herself forward to support her weak legs. The movement ignited the curse through her body, searing across to her left shoulder and leaving a creeping burn in her spine.

Anna collapsed, and her whimpers went ignored as the barn erupted into chaos. People were yelling, someone crashed into a haystack to her left, and a gun was tossed over her head before it could fire a single shot. The baby's wail added to the cacophony along with monkey screeches, threatening to drown Anna's focus within the noise.

She was so far away still, but had to keep going. She _had_ to get up.

 _I have to save her._

Every muscle in her body fought her to stay down, and through sheer will she fought back. She was going through that _damn_ portal and getting her sister back.

She placed one foot on the ground, and screamed as she rose to place the other. "I can make it…" she breathed, swaying on unsteady legs before she took one step forward, followed by another. Every move she made forced the curse to spread and settle, but still she stumbled onward, seething through the pain until she could take it no longer.

The curse dashed through her legs and burned up her left side. Anna fell, but she still made it; the portal was in her path and would catch her before she hit the ground. Soon, she and Elsa would be reunited, and she was ready to welcome the magic's embrace until someone wrapped their arms around her and tackled her out of the way.

They tumbled to the outer edge of the circle, too far for Anna to make another attempt at the portal. In her condition, she would not get up again.

Her rescuer pulled her in their lap, holding her tight as she gasped through waves of grief and pain. For all the strength, love and hope she carried in her heart, Anna's utter defeat was harrowing. She failed to save her sister, and now she was losing her mind and body to the same curse that took Kristoff and Hans.

The flames of her inevitable transformation licked at her heart and crept up the back of her neck, filling her final moments with dread and remorse. Just as the tendrils of the curse reached for her soul, it ceased, sparing her a second to anticipate what torture was to come next.

Slowly, bit by bit, the fire in her blood was extinguished. Her tense muscles relaxed as the curse was purified from her blood, and eventually, the only physical pain she felt stemmed from the wound in her arm. Her foggy head cleared, allowing her to hear Mr. Gold arguing with Regina, but also notice the absent wind and hum of flowing magic.

Anna opened her eyes and looked to the center of the circle. Zelena was on the ground, surrounded by Storybrooke's heroes, and the time portal was gone, closed to any and all who wished to pass through it.

Tears fell before Anna realized what that meant. She turned back into the arms of the one who held her, clutching his shirt as she buried her head into his sturdy chest.

Human once more, Kristoff gently rocked Anna as she sobbed. He pressed his forehead to her hair, trying in vain to hold back his tears. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, Anna."

They were left to grieve alone, ignored perhaps due to the argument over Zelena's fate, or because no one quite understood what just happened to the little family. Of all those who were gathered in the barn, the most unlikely person sought out the mourning couple first.

Hans approached looking grim, expressing genuine guilt and remorse for perhaps the first time in his life. He got down on one knee and clenched his fist, struggling to find the right thing to say. "I… I couldn't break free," he said, meeting Kristoff's eyes and then turning to Anna. "If I could have, then I would've tried to… I'm sorry."

His lack of words was approved with an understanding nod from Kristoff. He couldn't blame Hans for what he did under Zelena's control; if it weren't for Anna's love, Kristoff would have been fighting alongside him in the end. Still, the wound Hans caused her was concerning, and it had him looking to the other heroes for help.

A man armed with a crossbow noticed him and beckoned for Regina's aid. She turned away from her argument with Mr. Gold, spied Anna in Kristoff's arms, and hurried across the barn. "What the hell happened?" she asked, gripping the Dark One's dagger tight as she hurried towards them.

"She was bitten by a monkey," Kristoff explained, noting Hans' wince. "Can you help her?"

Regina knelt down and inspected the wound, checking both sides of Anna's arm before she hovered her hand over the bite. Her palm emitted a golden glow, bathing Anna's arm in the same light as the magic seeped into her skin. "Never thought I'd have to come to the hero's rescue. That's a change," Regina joked. It got no reaction from Anna, but Kristoff's soft smile thanked her for trying.

"This emerald was the source of the witch's power," the man with the crossbow explained, showing Kristoff the pendant Zelena always wore. "It seems that without it, all of her spells have come undone."

"And if it wasn't for you guys, we wouldn't have made it in time," Emma smiled as she approached with Killian limping by her side. Her father joined them with the newborn child in his arms, flanked by another man who was cured of Zelena's monkey curse. As they all watched Regina work to mend Anna's wound, Emma noticed her tears, the sick look on Hans' face, and Kristoff's dour expression. "…Guys? What's going on? Did something happen before we got here?"

Everyone looked to Kristoff, concerned and wide-eyed as they awaited his response. He held Anna tight and answered with a lump in his throat.

"We lost Elsa."


	14. Long Live the Queen

"I'm sorry for your loss."

She never hated those words so much until now. Elsa wasn't _dead_ , she was just… gone.

One long week passed since Anna confronted Zelena and paid the price for her foolishness. From overconfidence or a wrong gut feeling at the time, Anna truly believed she could outwit the Wicked Witch and right all the wrongs she committed in town.

Now all Anna had was a broken heart and about a dozen condolence cards in her apartment mailbox.

She tucked the cards under her arm, slammed the door shut on the mailbox and began the trek up to the third floor.

Storybrooke wasn't the same anymore. Winter, already struggling to exist that year, died out completely the day after Elsa was lost. Nothing remained of it but a bitter wind during Anna's morning paper route; a punishment, she believed, for failing the season's avatar.

Zelena was incarcerated for her misdeeds, spared from judgement for now by the grace of her little sister, Regina. The townsfolk returned to their normal lives, and just like Kristoff and Hans, all of the flying monkeys returned to their human form. Everyone was celebrating the passing of another threat, but it seemed to Anna that only her family was concerned that Elsa was literally lost in time.

She considered it a blessing that Ingrid had yet to take it out on her; the last she heard, Ingrid was still looking for the urn, unaware of what happened to it because she fled from the barn before the battle began. Olaf and Marshmallow, the latter especially, were inconsolable. At the very least, Olaf held on to the hope that Elsa could be found and saved somehow, and he did his best to convince his family of it, too.

Anna sighed as she stopped and faced the door to the apartment. She had hope as well, only it was battered and beaten with very little to keep it alive.

The door swung open with a soulless, lonely creak, welcoming her back to a home filled with nothing but painful memories. She kicked the door shut with her heel, unable to escape her failure as soon as she walked in. Elsa's shoes remained on the mat, and her keys hung on the hook with a fine layer of dust.

Anna let her satchel slide off her shoulder and slump to the floor. How could she stay here alone? With Elsa it was fine; their combined incomes took care of all their bills and they each had a friendly face to come home to at the end of every day. Now Anna was just scraping by on her funds, having missed so much work due to monkey attacks and recent grieving. She was willing to keep up the place as long as she hoped Elsa could still come home, but her faith was wavering.

It was too much to think about. All she wanted to do, and all she was capable of doing, was lie in bed and sleep the day away, hoping the next would be easier. Committed to the idea, she breezed through the living room, but paused once she got to the entrance of the hall.

Her bedroom door was closed as she had left it, but the door on the right, painted with blue shields and snowflake-flowers, was open to let the dim light of the overcast day spill into the hall. A thin shadow painted the floor, unmoving in the light but familiar in shape.

Anna's heart skipped a beat and her feet moved before her head could catch up. She hurried down the hall, placed a hand on the doorframe and took a deep breath before she entered the room.

"…Elsa?"

Dressed in blue jeans and a dark knitted sweater, the silhouette looked common compared to the regality Anna last remembered seeing. Still, the white-haired woman turned at the sound of her name, bright blue eyes searching for the familiar voice. "Anna?"

Anna covered her mouth and held back tears when Elsa faced her. It didn't matter how she came back; she was _here_ , alive and unharmed. She was home.

"I was so afraid I'd never see you again!" Anna cried, running up to Elsa and wrapping her arms around her. She was so excited, so _relieved_ that her sister was safe that she didn't notice how Elsa flinched when she touched her. "We were cursed _again_ and we looked everywhere for you and we couldn't find you, so then Regina made us a potion to track you down and then Kristoff turned into a monkey and then _Hans_ turned into a monkey but I got the sword and then Zelena—"

She cut herself off when she realized she was making little sense. "Sorry…" she said as she pulled out of the one-sided embrace. "It's just been so long, and I…"

Anna bit her lip, watching Elsa carefully. She didn't smile, nor did she look amused at all by Anna's relieved rambling. As far as the eye could see, she wasn't hurt, but she also wasn't as happy as her sister by this reunion. "…I have a lot of explaining to do."

Elsa raised her head, and her frown grew deeper as she looked down upon Anna, seemingly unwilling to listen until she got her word in first. Brows drawn together in anger, she opened her mouth to speak, and her first word was drowned out by the sound of floorboards exploding behind her.

The floor of Elsa's room began to collapse from the window, sending all of her furniture plummeting not to the floor below, but into a gaping black abyss. Anna saw the danger and flew out of the room, sliding into the hall where she collided against her closed door.

The apartment shuddered as she looked back, finding Elsa running after her, but the collapsing floor chased her so fast that she didn't stand a chance. Anna pushed off her door just as the last floorboards dropped out from beneath Elsa's feet.

She saw the fear in her eyes as she was suspended for a moment, propelled forward by her last step, but her outstretched hand was too far to catch anything. Elsa was going to fall, lost to the void forever if Anna couldn't reach her in time.

The short steps she took carried enough speed for Anna to drop to her knees, slide to the doorway and grab Elsa's wrist before the darkness took her. Her fingers caught the doorframe just before Elsa's weight sent her toppling over the edge, and she struggled all the same to keep Elsa's wrist from sliding through her grasp.

Anna grit her teeth and closed her eyes, seething through burning muscles as she did all she could to keep her sister from falling. "I've got you!" she yelled, straining to hold her position. "I'm not going to lose you again!"

"…You can't save me, Anna."

Her eyes snapped open, hurt that Elsa would even say such a thing. "Yes I can!" she cried. "I'll pull you up so you can grab the ledge—"

"I _can't_."

Frustrated, Anna looked over the ledge, about to yell that she could until she saw why Elsa was so sure she would fail. A shackle of ice was cuffed to her right wrist, and the long chain was pulled taut into the darkness, threatening to force her from Anna's hold.

Elsa's eyes turned cold and hard as she looked up at her. "You were supposed to help me," she snapped, hurt and unflinching as two more shackles flew out of the darkness to clasp around her ankles. "You _promised_ me."

"Elsa, please…" Anna begged, faltering against the pull of the chains. "I was scared. I didn't know what to do, so I—"

"So you went against your word?!"

Anna fell silent. Never before did Elsa look so betrayed.

"Forever frozen; that's what you said, Anna! You told me we were going to go through everything together, but you turned your back on me. How am I supposed to stop this?!"

A final chain lashed out of the darkness as Anna's grip slipped to Elsa's hand. The ice cuffed around Elsa's wrist, turning her fingers blue as the color drained from her face.

She dropped her head in defeat, witnessing the way her braided hair turned from platinum blonde to pure white. "You cast me out when I needed you the most. What makes you think you can save me now?"

With a frenzied cry, Anna let go of the doorframe and grabbed Elsa with both hands. She pulled with every ounce of her strength, but the ice was stronger; all she could do was delay the inevitable. "It was an accident! I never wanted—"

"I _TRUSTED_ YOU!"

Their eyes met one final time, just long enough for Anna to gasp at Elsa's gray-blue lips and frost covered skin. In that brief moment of weakness, Elsa slipped through her fingers and fell into the darkness, dragged ever deeper by her chains until she was deafened to Anna's wretched screams.

"No! No, Elsa! ELSA!"

 _Why is this happening again…?!_

"…Elsa!"

Anna sat up in bed covered in sweat, frantically searching the room until she realized where she was, what had happened, and that she woke the person sleeping next to her. Tears streamed down her cheeks and dropped to the sheets, leaving her wondering if her nightmare had been real.

It wasn't, but the reality was still the same. Elsa was gone.

She shuddered and doubled over as the thought hit her again. "Oh god…"

"Anna?"

Kristoff propped up on his elbow, watching his fiancée try and fail to hold back her grief. Her body shook with sobs, and all Kristoff could do was try to calm her down. He sat up and took her into his arms, holding her tight as she cried into his shirt. "Shh. Hey… it's going to be okay. It was just a nightmare."

"Kr… Kristoff…"

"I know." He ran his fingers through her undone hair, cradling her head as he looked around his dark bedroom. This past week was hard on everybody, and no one quite knew how to cope with their new lives. Their family would never be the same again.

He sighed and closed his eyes, wishing there would be an end to this pain. Until then, he gave in to the notion that this would be another long night.

* * *

 _ **A long time ago…**_

 _Little could be said of the Northern Kingdoms. Separated from the continent of Misthaven, it was rumored to be a dangerous place with harsh terrain and dangerous wildlife. Any who visited could speak of its rich beauty and bountiful natural resources, but then, those visitors only came during the temperate seasons. Only the brave or foolish outsider would dare make the voyage north during winter._

 _It was cold and ruthless at times, but beautiful and quiet during others. Snow gathered quickly and standing water froze fast; in the northernmost reaches, harbors were brought to a standstill by thick ice preventing travel. Some would say that this land was cursed to bear the burden of a deity's wrath. Others, mostly the natives, believed they were blessed, for the winter hardened them and gave them a deeper appreciation for spring._

 _But for now, the throes of winter lashed hard upon a rigid mountain peak in the borderlands of Eiskurr and Arendelle. Tall and sturdy, it stood out among the others, not just for its size but for the secrets it held._

 _At the mountain's summit stood a populated ring of stones. Some were short, others tall, and each had runic carvings etched upon a face. The runes all pointed to the center of the peak, where the two tallest stones faced each other in rivalry._

 _The first sat dormant, looking akin to a grave as it bore through the snow squall. Its equal, however, was very much alive. At the very top of the stone was the depiction of a peculiar snowflake, striking yet elegant in its design. It, as well as the ancient runes below it, pulsed with an ethereal blue light. The light grew bold, and then dimmed, before it would spring back into its steady pattern. To the naked eye, it looked very much as though the stone was breathing._

 _There was one particular oddity upon the peak that afternoon, something that didn't quite belong but looked as though it could in time._

 _Bereft of snow, a bronze urn rested at the base of the glowing stone, guarded from the weather by its long shadow._

* * *

Restless nights plagued the cabin since the day Elsa was taken from her family. The boys often woke in the middle of the night and would climb into bed with Anna and Kristoff, but they did so at the risk of having to endure one of Anna's horrid nightmares.

Some nights she was fine, only to be paid back double the next time she tried to rest. For now, she wrapped herself in a blanket and sat at the open door wall in the kitchen while Kristoff made hot chocolate for them both. The idea was reminiscent of her and Elsa's "no sleep" parties, except it was a lot less fun and actually sort of sad.

She took a deep breath of cool air and watched Sven graze around the clearing. Her eyes were puffy and her nose was dry and red from tissue abuse. Leaning against the frame of the door, Anna fidgeted with her snowflake necklace and tried to let the tranquil night ease her troubled heart. "…I'm sorry about this. You don't have to stay up if you don't want to."

Kristoff shrugged as he walked across the kitchen with a mug in each hand. "Hey, I'm not sleeping much better. I _am_ managing it with a lot less screaming, though," he joked, getting a small smile out of Anna as he handed her a mug. "So what happened this time?"

"Oh, you know. The usual. The floor in Elsa's room collapsed and she fell, I tried to save her, and I failed. Again." She sighed, pressing her fingers to the hot ceramic in her hands as Kristoff sat beside her. "Except this time… Elsa called me out on it."

"You know it's not real."

"I know, I know, it's just…" Anna struggled to find the right words to explain it. She bit her lip, took a breath and exhaled, letting her tense shoulders fall. "It still hits home, you know? I've always wanted to be there for her and help her when she needs it, but every time I tried I let her down. Especially now," she added, feeling so sick that not even hot chocolate could soothe the pit in her stomach.

Kristoff could see and feel the guilt in her eyes. For the past month, all she lived and fought for was Elsa, braving through setbacks and her own self-doubt to reunite a family long-separated. She was so close to doing it, too; _gods_ was she close, only to be beaten in the end by Zelena's elaborate planning and purely wicked heart.

The defeat was still fresh in Anna's mind. There were so many things she could have done different to change the outcome of that day, but her thoughts always raced back to the exact moment she knew she lost everything. She set her mug down, pulled her blanket tight over her shoulders, and turned her pressing stare to Kristoff. "…Why did you stop me from going through the portal?"

His heart clenched in a painful tug. "Anna, you were hurt."

"So? I could've…"

He stopped her with a single look. "If you went through that portal, you weren't going to get far. You could barely walk," he recalled. "And how would you know where to find Elsa? Would you even be in the same year?"

Anna rubbed her arm where Hans had bit her. The wound was healed now thanks to Regina's magic, but she still remembered the pain of the bite and the agonizing sear running through her veins. "I wasn't thinking about that," she said, hanging her head in shame. "I just wanted to get the urn back and let her out. I miss her so much…"

"We _all_ do." Kristoff pulled Anna to lean on him when he saw tears shimmer in her eyes. "I was going to follow you through the portal, but when you got hurt I couldn't let you go after her anymore. I don't want to lose you, too."

She scared him that day more than she would ever know. It was thanks to him that she was still here, safe and alive with another chance at rescuing her sister. She rested her hand on his knee and stared at her engagement ring, unknowing where she would be now if she and Kristoff never met.

"I'm sorry." Anna took a deep breath, realizing that all of her efforts so far had either hurt someone she loved or made Elsa's situation worse. "I don't know if I can fix this anymore. She's lost out there _somewhere_ … how do I even start looking for her again?"

She glanced up at Kristoff, hoping he'd have an answer.

"Well… we can ask for help."

Anna pulled away and gave him an odd look. " _You?_ Asking for _help?_ " She scoffed and crossed her arms. "I'm not buying it."

"It's a _suggestion_ ," he sighed. "You made a lot of friends over the past few years who'd be willing to help us. I can't believe I'm actually going to say this, but I bet Hans and Regina could give us some ideas, too." The thought brought a small smile to Anna's lips, and Kristoff encouraged it with his own. He took her hand, moving her fingers to touch the snowflake pendant of her necklace. "You and Elsa are the most hopeful and the most _stubborn_ people I know. We start by not giving up on her, just like always."

Anna closed her eyes, feeling the warmth of Kristoff's hand on hers and the chill of the necklace beneath her fingertips. The two put her in balance, allowing her to see roads that were once blocked by her doubt and insecurity. Elsa would be found, just as Anna once believed, but how to find her remained a mystery for now.

"If we had that Wishing Star, this would be _way_ easier," she joked, shaking her head as the stars above mocked her, oh so far out of her reach.

"Between you and Elsa, you think that one of you would've figured out how to make it."

"I'm kinda starting to wonder if _anyone_ did."

They both laughed just then, imagining the old Arendelle kings trying out their theories to forge the fabled star, spending hours with blacksmiths and craftsmen for nothing but overpriced trinkets. The first of her ancestors to mention the fable said he heard it from a drunken sailor on the ship home from Misthaven. It didn't give her or Elsa much more hope that the myth was real, but the obsession over it in their family proved there may be some truth to it.

Kristoff let go of Anna's shoulder and leaned back when she pulled away from him. "So… for fun, let's just say that you had the star right now. What would you wish for?"

"Oh, that's easy. If you asked me a year ago, I'd wish away Elsa's prophecy. But _now_ …"

Anna laughed at herself, thinking how great it would be if her wish could come true. She held onto her necklace with both hands and looked up at the star filled sky. Her smile faded some as she thought of her sister, and she spoke her next words with all the genuine love in her heart.

"I wish that Elsa would find her way back to Storybrooke tonight."

She missed the way that the gem of her necklace sparkled with her hope, glowing bright blue and purple beneath the shadow of her palm. A soft breeze began to blow from the forest, rustling the bare, dormant branches when the night had been perfectly still. In the yard, Sven picked up his head, looking to the forest just before a golden pillar of light burst to life beyond the trees. It pierced the heavens, forming a brilliant beacon in the night.

Anna's jaw dropped and Kristoff whistled in awe. "Wow. That's one hell of a wish."

* * *

 _Impatient footsteps echoed down a long, dark and lonely hall, pacing back and forth, in circles, or in false pursuit of something when there was truly nothing. They stopped at the window, long enough for the source to look out at the bleak winter day and sigh._

 _Rumplestiltskin_ hated _waiting._

 _He had a unique ability to glimpse into the future, a power he had taken from a blind seer many years ago, and something he now considered to be a curse. His sight was unclear, akin to a puzzle of key moments where the connecting pieces between them were nowhere to be found. For years he had been plotting his next moves in favor of making those key moments happen, playing a chess game that lasted longer than the average man's life._

 _A good thing, then, that the Dark One was immortal. His current problem was that the pawns he needed to move were busy ruining their own lives or simply too young to manipulate. The most he could do for now was keep up on kingdom politics while he waited for his chance to interfere._

" _All magic comes with a price…"_

 _With an irritated scowl, he snatched the curtains and pulled them closed. It's not that he was lonely… he was simply bored._

 _He turned on his heel, musing recent events as he walked towards the long table where he had been working. A crystal ball sat at one end, having been used to spy on people and places from the comfort of his castle. "Nice to see that Cora hasn't lost her touch," he smiled, musing over his recent scrying. "And for a teenager, Regina certainly has a rebellious fire about her. She might do for an apprentice…"_

 _But that opportunity was still years away, and Rumplestiltskin felt uninspired by the wait. There were many things between now and then that he could influence towards his ultimate goal, but the final push, the casting of the Dark Curse, wouldn't happen for at least two decades. For living as long as he has, his patience was wearing thin._

" _The Queen of Arendelle should be giving birth soon. Eight months along, I believe?" He laughed to himself as he pulled out a chair and sat before the crystal ball. "Hope she's prepared; that first one will be a doozy!" Rubbing his hands together, he smiled as he thought of the little kingdom in the far north. "I wonder if she's picked a name yet…"_

 _He held his hands above the crystal ball, about to begin the scrying when a peculiar spark of white light appeared above the table between his arms. He jumped back in his seat as the spark grew into an orb, though the gentle nature of its light made him believe this magic was harmless._

 _The orb sank to the table and the light faded in a shimmer of sparks, revealing to Rumplestiltskin a dull bronze urn. The face of it was carved with runes and snow stuck to its metal curves and details, melting quickly in the warmth of the castle._

" _Well, well… what do we have here?"_

 _Rumplestiltskin stood from his seat with an amused grin. "I suppose it wasn't enough for them to just make one," he said, looking to the far side of the room where he kept his collection of magical curios. Another bronze urn sat on a shelf next to a small clock and candelabra, but the face of it was blank. He peered down at the urn before him. "Never expected to see one_ filled _again, either."_

 _He plucked the urn from the table with both hands, reading the runes just before he felt a surge of magic emanate from the vessel. Shocked, he held it out at arm's length, trying to comprehend the power contained within._

" _This is rare magic…" he whispered in awe. "I've seen it before, but never_ this _strong…"_

 _Through the metal of the urn, he could feel the power raging inside. Like a growing storm without release, it was volatile, dangerous, and vastly unpredictable without restraint._

" _It's a good thing they caught you, dearie. No telling what kind of damage you'd do if they let you free."_

 _Holding the urn in one hand, Rumplestiltskin raised the other above his head with a flourish, disappearing from the hall in a cloud of deep red smoke._

 _He reappeared somewhere completely different. The place was dark, and the walls seemed to stretch up forever, lined with many alcoves and shelves to hold magical knickknacks and weaponry._

 _Rumplestiltskin held up the urn and bowed. "Welcome to the vault: Your new home. Nothing and no one gets out, except_ me. _"_

 _He sighed as he crossed the room, perhaps feeling an ounce of humanity for whoever lie within the urn. "Sorry, but I can't risk having you upstairs. Wouldn't want you interfering with my nefarious plans and such," he joked. "Now where to put you… ah! There we are!"_

 _An old cupboard caught his eye. He opened the door and placed the urn inside, careful not to jostle the cap. "Power like yours is admirable, but I can tell you can't control it. The world will be a safer place without you, dearie. No offense."_

 _He closed the door with a satisfied smile and turned his back on the cupboard, taking a deep cleansing breath now that the unknown threat was taken care of. "Well that was refreshing. Poor soul didn't stand a chance," he dramatically sighed, placing a hand over his heart in mock pity._

 _His grin returned in an instant. "Then again, neither did Hulda."_

 _With a giddy laugh and a flick of his hand, Rumplestiltskin disappeared from the vault, leaving the urn to be forgotten amongst the realm's most dangerous treasures._

* * *

By the prickling goosebumps on her skin and the way her hair stood on end, Anna guessed that the beacon was a font of pure magic. She sat alone watching it from the doorway, Kristoff having gone off to bed a while ago, while Sven managed to retreat to his shed despite the energy and light show going on beyond the forest.

It felt nice to be alone for a little while to gather her thoughts, but Anna had to fight her gut feeling to go out and find where that beacon was coming from and learn what it really was. Her adventurer's blood burned and begged to make the discovery, but she was aware enough to know she wasn't in the right headspace for it. She was mentally and physically drained, and she'd only get herself in trouble if she tried to pursue this phenomenon alone.

She felt a tug at her heart when the beacon of light thinned and then blinked out of existence. It was a missed opportunity, perhaps, but with all of the town's heroes gathered at Granny's Diner for a victory celebration, she was sure that someone must have gone out to investigate it.

If only they had been so quick to help her at the barn last week, maybe she'd be celebrating, too.

The bitter thought escaped her when she heard small footsteps coming from the hallway. She stood and closed the door wall, locking it before she turned to see who it was. "Olaf?"

He stood in the center of the kitchen and rubbed his tired eyes, looking as exhausted as Anna. He offered her a half-smile when she knelt down before him. "This is harder than I thought," he admitted, and then his smile fell.

"Can't sleep?" Anna guessed. She took off her blanket when Olaf nodded and draped it over his shoulders like a cape. "I can't either, but maybe we can try together?"

Anna took Olaf into her arms and picked him up, feeling him squeeze her tight as she carried him into the hall. "…Do you think we'll see her again?" Olaf asked, spying a painting of the ice palace as they passed by the open door to his and Marshmallow's room. He had done well in staying positive thus far, but his energy was fading. He was beginning to doubt.

Lucky for him that Anna was ready to help him bear that burden of hope. "Yeah, I do. I don't know _when_ , but… she'll come back. We just have to keep believing she will, that's all."

"We don't give up on each other," Olaf remembered with a smile.

"Right." Anna walked into the main bedroom and paused, trying not to laugh when she saw Kristoff and Marshmallow back-to-back in bed, wrestling the sheets away from each other. "I don't know if there's any hope for these two, though," she joked.

She set Olaf down on the bed next to his brother, who immediately stopped fighting Kristoff to hug him instead. Kristoff looked over his shoulder to see Anna lying down, mouthed the words "Thank you," and then huddled beneath his share of blankets. Anna rolled her eyes and pulled the covers up to her chin.

 _We'll get through this._

"Goodnight, guys."

""Night, Anna."

Olaf touched her shoulder and smiled. "Night-night."

Marshmallow said nothing, but Anna saw a tear roll down his cheek. He had very little to say to her after she came home empty-handed, but he didn't shun her either. Like everyone else, he mourned in his own way, and for as few times as he said it lately, he still loved her too.

With a heavy heart, Anna closed her eyes, praying that the next day would be easier.

"Goodnight, Elsa."

* * *

 _Darkness… there was nothing but darkness._

 _It choked her, stealing her voice and robbing her senses. She could not move, nor could she breathe, but somehow she was alive. Dead to others, perhaps, but she remained aware in this purgatory, alone and waiting for an escape._

"… _How long have I been here?"_

 _Her question went unanswered as it always did, her words unspoken and trapped along with her. The only company she had in this place were her thoughts, and oh how they wreaked havoc on her poor mind. Over and over again she questioned the actions that condemned her to this punishment, unable to let go of the events that took place just before she was exiled from the home she loved._

 _All that awaited her in the darkness was the cold, and it bothered her. She longed for warmth, to feel the sun on her skin and the ground beneath her feet. To experience anything other than cold was a luxury, something that a monster like her didn't deserve._

 _But she didn't deserve this hell, either. Until some poor fool weakened the seal upon her prison, she was to remain here, alone and tortured by her memories for all eternity._

* * *

 **Later that evening…**

If Anna followed her instinct to discover the source of the beacon, she would have found herself back at the barn, facing the very same magic which took away her sister. Emma Swan was there in her stead, for better or for worse.

Emma understood the risk she took in approaching the time portal after its mysterious and radiant return, but she could not have known that the renewed energy would pull her through. Killian Jones followed shortly after, trapped alongside her in the Enchanted Forest just years before the Dark Curse was cast.

Countless times the savior was warned to keep her meddling in the past to a minimum, to limit her interactions with others as she sought a way home. While she did her best to heed those warnings, an accident almost kept her parents from meeting, and her good heart saved the life of a woman who should have been killed. She also happened in the path of someone in desperate need of rescue, who only appeared there due to one very powerful wish.

With some help from a magic wand and Killian's faith in her abilities, Emma was able to open the time portal once more to take them home. She and Killian, along with the woman they rescued, returned to Storybrooke several hours after they left.

Emma's actions in the past had little effect on the present, much to her relief. Her family was still together despite the altered history of her parents' first meeting, and of course her new baby brother was safe and healthy as well. It looked as though the future would remain unchanged until the woman she rescued was recognized by Robin Hood as his wife, Maid-Marian. While this reunion of husband, wife, and their young son should have been a happy occasion, Regina, who had formed a relationship with Robin, was anything but pleased.

She turned upon Emma. "You're just like your mother—never thinking of consequences," she chided, voice shaking on the edge of heartbreak and anger. Before this, Emma and Regina had formed a reluctant alliance that started to resemble a friendship, but now… Regina felt completely, utterly betrayed by the person who stood before her.

Emma stared at her with wide eyes, afraid for her and anyone else who would be affected by her stumble into the past. "I'm sorry. I didn't know—"

"Of course you didn't," Regina spat. "Well, you just better hope to hell you didn't bring anything else back."

* * *

 **Meanwhile…**

The barn was still, quiet now for the final time, though the structure had seen better days since the battle one week prior. The reemergence of the time portal blasted the front doors off the hinges, and the roof had a new skylight where the beam of magic had burst through. Dirt and hay was scattered around the floor among bits of splintered wood, but the magic circle remained fully intact; it even had a new addition to its outer circle.

A bronze urn had been tipped over in the dirt, allowing whatever was inside to push against the cap and blow it off with a burst of cold air. Unnatural blue liquid spilled from the urn like water, rushing to fill the outer trench of the circle before it trickled to the second. For a brief moment the magic circle was completely filled with blue, pulsing with life before the liquid rushed through the trenches to coalesce in the center, spilling over itself as it began to rise.

The air fogged in cold wisps as the liquid gradually froze, taking on a formless shape which grew taller as the magic circle was emptied. The shape defined into a female figure who screamed in silence, pained by her experience within the urn and desperate to reform. Her body creaked and snapped like ice as she righted herself and solidified, coming back to the world in the exact shape she had left it.

The blue color she emerged as gave way to her normal palette, and all of her details came back into focus, from the ice heels she wore to the crystals in her cape and dress. Her platinum hair was braided over her left shoulder, and not a freckle was out of place across her pale nose. The golden crown atop her head was the last to return before the remaining blue faded and she was whole again.

She took her first breath and opened her eyes.

That _damn_ urn.

It sat there, mocking her from the corner of her sight. Without a glance or second thought, she flung her hand out at the bronze, obliterating her prison to dust with a blast of ice magic.

She lowered her arm and clenched her fist, seething in pain from her last memories.

"…I trusted you."

The door was wide open to her now, as was her freedom. She took her first step towards it, uncaring for the frost that grew in her wake. With a cold stare and set jaw, she let her emotions guide her out of the barn and into the night.

Elsa was back, and soon all of Storybrooke would know it.


	15. Monsters

She stood still, eyes closed and hands at her sides as she took in everything which had been stripped from her. A soft breeze ran through her hair, smelling of ocean and forest, muddled by the cedar scent of the barn behind her. This air was foreign, not of her homeland, but she gladly drew it into her lungs, taking a deep breath and quelling the anger which moved her just moments ago. The ground shifted beneath her weight, a mix of dirt and gravel sounding as loud as gunshots to her ears when she walked. Parched, her throat felt sore, but it was a minor pain that was overwhelmed by the sensations and smells around her.

With a gentle touch, Elsa placed her hand over her heart, feeling it beat strong within her chest.

… _I'm alive._

Blue eyes slowly opened to witness the world once more, having the time now to savor it when her sudden freedom came with a barrage of emotions she could not contain. Never again would she take her senses for granted, nor the warmth and light of the living world when hers had been cold and dark for so long.

 _But where am I?_

The farmstead looked little more than a sea of black, and only her immediate surroundings were set aglow by a light within the barn. _How_ she got here was a mystery of its own. Elsa lowered her head as she thought of her last moments, of the chaos that ensued before she was imprisoned within the urn. Someone took her from Arendelle and brought her to this alien place, but who would do such a thing?

Or was she summoned here? When it came to the complex intricacies and rules of magic, Elsa was a novice, but she understood that she was released from the urn on the edge of a magic circle. The air was also thick with residual energy, something she might have been able to ignore if she hadn't been deprived of her senses for so long. There was no doubt that a large spell had been cast here just a few hours ago, and Elsa was convinced that the conjurer was also the one who weakened the seal on her urn, allowing her to escape.

She turned back to look at the barn, thinking her savior should still be somewhere close by, but she paused when she got an odd feeling about the place. Something about it seemed familiar to her. The architecture wasn't of the Northern Kingdoms; that much she could tell, and whoever owned the barn must have abandoned it some time ago considering how poorly it was kept. Hay was strewn all over the floor, the back wall was cracked in a spot, and there were scorch marks littered throughout in every direction she looked. The worst damage was that the roof directly above the magic circle was decimated to splinters, likely caused by her summoning or release, and the doors were blown clear off the hinges.

In the darkness it looked completely different, but the longer she gazed at it, the more she began to recognize this as somewhere she had been before. Elsa picked up the skirt of her dress and took a step back in denial, hoping she was wrong.

 _No… no, not again. Please…_

She whirled and started upon a path away from the barn, searching across the farmstead for something she prayed she wouldn't find. Her heart began to race and she hastened her steps, no longer as stern and confident as she was when she first emerged from the urn.

She couldn't be here… it wasn't possible. This place didn't exist anymore.

Yet moments later, there she was, standing in front of the same white farmhouse she had passed a time before. The barn, though somewhat ruined now, was the same one where she found an elusive ingredient for a memory potion.

Elsa's heart skipped a dreadful beat.

 _I'm in Storybrooke._

How? _Why?_ Was there another curse? Were there others here with her, too? If so, then what about her people? Is Arendelle still standing? Did Anna—?

A hard lump formed in Elsa's throat and she swallowed it down, clenching her fists.

 _Anna._

She looked to the worn dirt road leading from the farmhouse through the forest. Beyond those trees were the answers to her questions, but she feared facing the town's population in her search for the truth. She was in no condition to handle their scrutiny, and there were just some people Elsa did _not_ want to see.

Then again... there was a chance that she was here alone. Perhaps she wasn't summoned here, but exiled instead to the abandoned remnants of the Evil Queen's curse. It wouldn't surprise her if someone took advantage of her powerless state and cast her away when she couldn't fight back.

Elsa stood in silent contemplation, wondering if her return to town would be worth the risk.

 _There's only one way to find out. For everyone's sake, I hope I'm here alone._

* * *

The next afternoon was as typical as one could be in post-crisis Storybrooke. It amazed Anna how quick people moved on from villainous threats, though she figured it took her longer because her family had a bad habit of getting involved. They never jumped into the conflict by choice, of course, but Anna would still take the blame for antagonizing Zelena enough during the last year to lose her sister.

Coming to terms with that was a bitter pill to swallow, and trying to move on without Elsa was impossible. She tried to by returning to work at the diner, but here on her first day back, she heard a bit of unexpected gossip that had her lost in thought for most of her shift. Anna learned her lessons about believing rumors without proof, but she had a bad feeling when one of her patrons told her that Zelena met her demise the previous night in jail. Allegedly, she was so distraught by her failure that she turned herself into porcelain and shattered to pieces.

It wasn't in Zelena's nature to do such a thing. Her jealousy and obsession with changing the past may have consumed her, but as she put it, she was "wicked": she would resort to any means to accomplish her goals, even if that meant suffering through prison long enough to escape. Suicide would have been the last thing on her mind.

The story had foul play written all over it, but Anna didn't have the energy or desire to solve a mystery right now. She had trouble sleeping last night, even with her family close by to protect her from her incessant nightmares. The beacon that appeared beyond the forest made her wonder if there was another looming threat approaching Storybrooke, and of course she still worried for Elsa, lost and alone somewhere she couldn't reach. After having to wake up early for her paper run, it was a wonder how Anna made it so far through the day without nodding off at the counter or face-first in someone's soup.

The door to the diner swung open and rang the bell, snapping her out of thought and back into the perfect picture of a customer service all-star. When she saw who had walked in, though, she went slack-jawed. A young boy stood in the doorway, panting as he sorted out his mussed brown hair and searched the diner for someone. When he turned and found her staring at him from behind the counter, his face lit up in relief.

"Anna! Thank goodness!" he said, smiling as he approached her and wiped his brow on his sleeve. "It took me _forever_ to get here!"

Anna blinked. "…Olaf? What are you doing here?"

"I came to see you, silly!"

She looked him up and down. "…You're supposed to be in _school,_ " she said, the fact obvious by the uniform he wore.

"Yeah, but this is more important! It's—! It's, uh… um… hold on a second. Why did I run here?" Olaf tapped his chin and looked out the window in serious thought, drawing Anna's confused stare along with those of a few customers. He spotted something outside and snapped his fingers. "Oh, that's right! I can see Elsa!"

Anna's heart leapt to her throat and she froze. _Elsa?_ She crouched to her knees to look Olaf in the eyes. "Are you sure that it's her?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Because the last time you said that, it turned out to be a lamp in Oaken's shop, remember?" The poor boy was attracted to anything blue and shiny over the past week, and Anna was afraid to get her hopes up in case he mistook something else for Elsa's heart. She had a hard time believing that her sister would just show up in Storybrooke without help either, considering how much time she spent trapped within the urn.

But Olaf was adamant. "It's really her this time! Come on!" He took her wrist and tried pulling her towards the door, but got nowhere. "We'll go see her right now!"

Anna shook her head, unable to abandon work and let Olaf play hooky over something that might not be true. She was about to tell him that they'd go later, but the bell of the diner's front door cut her off before she could say a word. Again, she made to greet the new arrival, but she balked when the man ran in and looked around in the same manner as Olaf. In the exact same way, he found who he was searching for by looking towards the counter.

"There you are!" Kristoff grinned, though his happy smile quickly turned into a stern frown that he aimed straight at Olaf. "Why didn't you wait for me?"

Olaf gestured to Anna with open palms and an innocent look. "I had to tell her!"

Kristoff sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I get that, but I would have given you a ride if you'd just…" He shook his head in frustration and turned to his fiancée. "Hi Anna."

She smiled and nodded, but the confusion was written clear on her face. "Kristoff, what's going on? I thought you were at work?" She stood up, looked between the two and pouted. "How come I'm the only one who's actually where they're supposed to be right now?!"

"Because this all started about an hour ago," Kristoff said, rubbing the back of his neck. "I got a call from the school because Marshmallow walked out of class and they couldn't find him. By the time I got there, they'd already called Emma to look for him, but then _Olaf_ walked out as I was talking to their teacher," he explained, glaring at the boy.

Olaf looked up at him with wide eyes. "I _had_ to come here! Marshmallow said that Elsa was upset, so he went to go find her while I got Anna to come help. I can take you right to her!"

She cringed, afraid to be let down if a chase led to nothing, but Kristoff wouldn't let her shy away from the potential disappointment. "This isn't wishful thinking," he said, crossing his arms. "This is real. There are patches of black ice up and down Main Street and the next block over."

"Not to mention someone froze Sleepy's van last night!" The trio turned and found Granny walking towards them with a tray of empty dishes. She shoved the tray into Anna's arms, letting her stack the dishes into a bus bin as she gave them more details. "He was driving Leroy home from the party and passed out at the wheel. Typical for that dwarf," she scoffed. "Why you'd ask a narcoleptic to drive you home, I don't know, but the last thing Leroy remembers is barreling towards woman in the street before he hit his head and passed out. When he came to, the van was frozen solid. He couldn't get out until morning."

Anna reached for her necklace, holding onto the snowflake pendant. "Elsa wouldn't do something like that," she said, turning around to face the group. "It can't be her. Maybe it was Ingrid?"

All she got in return was grim stares, and Kristoff's shoulders fell when he gave her one last bit of proof. "Anna, I passed by the auto shop on my way to work and saw the van outside. The ice on it is blue, and I'd recognize that snowflake anywhere. It's her."

Anna's heart pulled in so many different directions that it hurt. She was happy, overjoyed even to hear that Elsa was safe and _here_ , but… she knew the emotions her sister must be drowning in by now. As if finding herself in Storybrooke wasn't enough, she'd still be dealing with the aftermath of the events that led to her capture. Elsa was good at handling situations, but not when those situations revolved around her.

"I… I gotta go. We gotta go find her," Anna repeated, scrambling for the drawstrings to her apron. She shook her head and gave Granny an apologetic look as she pulled the apron off and threw it beneath the counter. "I'm sorry, but it's a family emergency and—"

"Family emergency? My _diner_ is going to have an emergency!" Granny joked as Anna hurried to the coat rack to grab her jacket. "First Ruby calls in and now _you_ leave during the middle of your shift!"

Anna waved at her as she followed Kristoff and Olaf to the door. "I promise I'll make it up to you!"

"I'm sure you will!" Granny laughed as she watched the family run out the door and past the windows, guided by Olaf's special sight. She sighed, lingering in thought before she returned to work.

 _For your sake, Anna, I hope this turns out alright. Something's smelled off about this town since this morning, and I've got a bad feeling your sister's the cause of it._

* * *

She sat with her back to the wall, her hands over her ears, and her eyes squeezed shut, wishing she could forget what happened last night. If she could have been anywhere else at that time, or if she could have worked up the nerve to _move_ , then she wouldn't be feeling so sick right now.

 _I hope they're okay. It was an accident… I didn't mean for it to go that far._

Yet there was an angry bite behind her actions. The headlights were just as blinding in her mind's eye, and she could still smell the smoke from the tires as they swerved and squealed on the road. Lost in the fresh memory, she heard a gust of wind, the shimmer of magic, and then the sickening crunch of plastic and metal which brought her back to the present with a loud gasp.

Elsa opened her eyes and panted, staring at the empty side of the room she chose to hide in for the evening.

 _God… can't you go anywhere without putting someone in danger? And of all places, did you really have to come back here?_

It was the only choice she had for something more conspicuous than an igloo in the forest. That, and she didn't want to take the risk of running into Anna. Disoriented from her near brush with death, Elsa had stumbled back into town and gone to the old apartment Alison and Nina used to share. According to the mailboxes, the vacant unit had yet to be rented out, so Elsa used her knowledge of its tricky lock and a bit of magic to break in and use it as shelter for the night.

She let her hands fall to her sides and rest upon the bed of ice and snow she made for herself, defeated in her attempts at trying to get any sort of sleep. Even if she didn't have that encounter with the van, her mind was too busy to rest, and she feared that this Storybrooke experience was just a nightmare she'd wake from only to find herself still trapped within the urn.

Elsa swung her legs over the side of the bed and put her shoes on. Nightmare or not, she was stuck here for now, and had to cope with living in Storybrooke for the rest of her life if she was unable to return to Arendelle. It was a repulsing thought considering she had a bad reputation among the residents, mostly caused by the local newspaper slandering her name and making big stories out of the few accidents she caused. She didn't trust herself enough to maintain her magic around them, not when she was still trying to acclimate to having a physical form and recovering from her forced, sensory-deprived isolation.

 _So long as I go out at the right times and stay away from Ingrid and Anna, I should be fine. If my people are here, then Arendelle is abandoned… I can keep everyone safe so long as I find a way back._

She got up and walked out of the bedroom, wondering if Mr. Gold was here and sane enough to help her. Crossing worlds was hard, but not impossible, and he proved himself time and time again to be a master of most forms of magic… though his services would come with a price she'd be unwilling to pay. Elsa mused her other options, heading for the front door when the knob suddenly jiggled and stopped her mid-stride.

She heard voices outside. "Blast this lock…" one man said. He grunted in frustration, turning the knob again. "Are you _sure_ someone's in there and you're not seeing ghosts again?"

An older man scoffed in retort. "Ghosts are _real_ , you egg-headed fool! And I know what I saw!"

Elsa slowly backed away through the kitchen and towards the bedroom, careful not to make a sound when she spotted the bed she made from the corner of her eye.

"Who is it, then?"

"It's that witch they write about in the newspapers! You know, the one from the north!"

The first man laughed. "The _Snow Queen?_ Please. That one's a myth."

"Myth? Bah! Humbug! You've heard the rumors. Those poor sods are lucky they didn't freeze to death in that van."

Desperate, Elsa waved her hand towards the bed, willing it to break and chip down into flakes she could scatter out the window. The ice didn't react to her first attempt and she frowned, trying again as she listened to the old man bicker through the thin walls.

"Dumpty, if you're so sure she's a myth, then why is there _frost_ by that keyhole you're struggling with?"

 _Oh no._

Elsa panicked and snapped her hand down, causing the magic she was projecting upon the bed to explode out into a patterned snowflake of frost across the room.

"What was that?!"

"Do you believe me now? An intruder, just as I said! Call the sheriff!"

It was the second crime in less than twelve hours she could be traced to, and if she was caught, she'd only cause more trouble in trying to leave Storybrooke. Elsa fumbled with the locks on the bedroom window, her hands shaky and almost numb as she flipped the switches and threw the small panel up. Going out head first, she sat on the sill and pulled herself through, taking care to sweep her cape clear of the room before she slammed the window shut and began running down the steep fire escape.

Ice stilettos did nothing to help her flight, getting caught in the metal grating a few times before she got to the final platform and dropped the ladder. Uncaring for modesty, she hurried down the rungs and dropped to the street below, taking a moment to gather herself and get her bearings before she turned to pursue her original plan.

Elsa took about three steps towards the sidewalk before she caught the attention of her first pedestrian, and gathered another three by the time she made it to the street. She could feel their eyes upon her, boring into her back while she crossed the road and came face to face with more stares. They whispered to each other as she hurried past them, and as much as she wanted to block out their words, she couldn't.

"Who dresses like that anymore?"

"Hey… that's her! That's the woman who was missing!"

"Anna's sister, right?"

"I'd stay away if I were you. Did you hear what she did in Arendelle? It was awful."

There was no doubt that the rumor was true; just the mention of it made Elsa want to disappear before she heard the whole story. She ducked into the nearest alley and fought off the memories from her last day "alive", begging them not to play over as they did within the urn. Her past was filled with bitter words, confused thoughts and the condemning gazes of those she had let down or wronged. Subjected to that same scrutiny now convinced her that she needed to leave this world as soon as possible, regardless if her kingdom was still populated. She had to find Mr. Gold and convince him to help her find a way back home where there were many places to run to and fewer lives to endanger.

Try as she might to stay on task and block out her surroundings, her focus scattered the moment she stepped out onto Main Street. There were more people out than one would expect on a weekday afternoon, and her bright blue dress did nothing to hide her, not even in the shadows between buildings.

It was possible that Elsa misinterpreted the amount of people who were staring at her, but in her frazzled state of mind, _everyone_ had stopped to watch what she was doing. Her heart began to race and it felt like the distance to the pawnshop was growing further away when it was only a short sprint across the street. Her sensitive ears couldn't shield her from the ensuing comments, and it didn't take much to send her marching into the road, seething as she tried to bear through them.

"Why didn't they deal with her after the first curse? She can't be trusted."

"Here we go again… another witch in Storybrooke to terrorize us all."

"Witch? Are you kidding? Ask anyone from Arendelle: that woman's a monster."

 _No… no, I'm not—_

A sharp pang shot through Elsa's heart. Her power surged into her hands, forming a thin layer of frost on her fingers which cooled the air around them in foggy wisps.

The memories she tried to hold back crashed into her like an avalanche. Forget Mr. Gold; Elsa had to find a place to hide _right_ _now_ before she came undone.

She picked up her skirt and ran the rest of the way across the road, leaving a trail of ice in her wake that followed her down a side street between the pawnshop and the local dive bar. Sprinting through the bar's empty parking lot, she searched for a place out of view from the road and spotted a small warehouse up ahead with a fenced-in area outside. The words "DO NOT BLOCK GATE EVER!" were painted upon the gate in white, but it had a small door in it to allow access when it was closed. Not a perfect place to hide, but it would have to work.

Elsa stepped through the door and closed it behind her, taking a brief look at her surroundings before she hurried to the back of the lot in an effort to conceal herself further. There was a small space between a stack of pallets and the wall of the building, big enough for her to hide in the shadows from the tin awning above.

Stepping into the cranny, she took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and tilted her head back to hit it against the wall.

 _I'm not a monster… I am NOT a monster…!_ Ice sprouted upon the wall where she pressed her palms against it and she cringed at the noise, coiling in to herself as her walls began to crumble. _They know what you did… they ALL know… but it was an accident. I didn't mean any of it, I didn't even know that I—_

Elsa opened her eyes and reeled, covering her mouth in horror.

 _No, I AM a monster. Only a monster could do something like that without knowing._

Her euphoric reintroduction to the world about twelve hours ago was now quashed by this horrible revelation, that she truly was what everyone saw her as. Her legs threatened to give out when she heard the door in the gate open and swing close, feeling stupid for trying to hide when she literally left a trail to her exact location. She should have known that someone was bound to come after her and imagined it was a scout for the inevitable angry mob outside the gate, or a fairy armed with a spell to seal her away in another urn.

The thought of it was shattering. A taste of freedom, just to return to the darkness?

 _Don't put me back there,_ she silently begged, listening to the footsteps as they grew closer. _I can't do that again… I can't—!_

"…Mama?"

An innocent voice through the chaos of her raging mind, and she recognized it.

Elsa looked to her left, out to the lot where she saw the young boy who found her. "M… Marshmallow?" She touched her throat, her own voice coming out hoarse and foreign to her ears. He looked taller than the last time she saw him. Older, too, but still young according to his elementary school uniform.

It was a bittersweet reunion of mother and snow son. The sight of him would have brought Elsa some relief, but it only reaffirmed her suspicion that Arendelle's people had returned to Storybrooke as well, including Anna and Ingrid.

Marshmallow kept his distance, afraid to make things worse by getting too close. He could feel how scared she was, that she was confused and suppressing a simmering anger, but there was something else as well. It ran deeper than her other emotions, like a scar upon her heart that was ready to open and bleed again. Marshmallow was at a loss for what it was and where it came from, but he knew it wasn't right.

His blue eyes were serene where hers were wide and unfocused. "Mama, I'm here," he said, trying to calm her down and show her that she had his support. "You need help. What can I do?"

She didn't say a word. What Elsa _needed_ was protection, and her magic reacted to that desire. Bright blue snowflakes blinked to life around them, suspended in midair at first before they started to swirl in a weak vortex. Marshmallow watched the flakes as they grew into a squall, centering on him and obscuring his vision of Elsa. His expression was grim but confident, and he nodded to her. "I understand, Mama."

She watched in horror as clumps of snow began to stick to Marshmallow's small body, forming to him like armor and turning the young boy into something much greater. Elsa stumbled back into her hiding spot when she heard the door in the gate open again, and the howling wind of her storm come to a halt. There was another newcomer who followed her trail, and she doubted this time it was a member of her family.

"We don't want to pick a fight!" called a familiar voice. They sounded honest, and for a moment, Elsa thought she believed them.

But then she heard the deep growling of a monster, and a roar of words she wanted to scream at the top of her lungs.

"GO AWAY!"

The ground shook beneath her feet and a gunshot rang through the yard, bringing Elsa to her knees. She was unharmed, but the noise brought back a memory which bled into another, and soon she was reliving all the terrible mistakes she made over the last year in Arendelle. She put her trust in people who betrayed her and opened her heart when she should have kept it closed. In the end, she was abandoned when she needed the most help.

Giant footsteps stomped out of the yard, chasing away her pursuers and causing panic where they roamed. Elsa could hear the screams beyond the gate and bowed her head, covering her ears in a desperate effort to block out the noise.

The screams grew into a tidal wave of more, echoing those of the same memory which tortured her inside the urn. She closed her eyes, doing everything she could to try to compose herself, though one single tear escaped past her will.

 _I can't do this._

* * *

"EVIL SNOWMAN!"

They heard Leroy's frenzied cry as they followed an ice trail back to Main Street, and saw the monster for themselves moments later. It was tall and imposing, the size of a giant actually, but it had been put together in a rush judging by the cracks in its snow body.

Anna stood in the center of the road as a scattered crowd of people ran past her. She stared at the monster and tilted her head to the side, able to recognize that glare and pouty scowl anywhere. "…Marshmallow? Is that you?"

The monster glowered at the little family, but he didn't bother to try chasing them away as he did everyone else. After a brief glance at Olaf, he stomped away from them, pursuing his own agenda and confirming Anna's suspicion. "Oh my god, it really _is_ him."

Olaf ran after his brother, quickly giving up the pursuit when he couldn't match his giant pace. "Hey! Where are you going?! Elsa's this way!" he called, waving towards the side street Marshmallow just walked out from.

Anna looked down that same street, wondering if she could catch a glimpse of her sister, while Kristoff watched the reformed snow golem scream at a group of bystanders and chase them away. "We've got _way_ bigger problems to deal with right now. He's going to trash the place if we don't do something!" he said, cringing when Marshmallow walked straight through a power line and knocked down the pole. He shrugged it off, but the town damage was instant as all the signs on the nearby buildings went dark.

"We… we can go get Elsa!" Olaf suggested, unsure if he'd be able to talk his brother out of whatever end he planned to meet with this mayhem. "She's _right_ over there, and I bet she could—"

"Olaf, Elsa's probably the reason Marshmallow turned back into snow in the first place!" Kristoff argued, gesturing towards Marshmallow with an open palm as his shoulder struck the corner of a building he passed. A slab of the concrete roof broke off along with some bricks from its supporting wall, crashing to the sidewalk with a sickening crunch; with all the panicked townsfolk running about, it was pure luck that no one was hurt by the falling rubble. That alone brought some short relief to Kristoff, only to have it replaced by dread when a certain yellow Beetle raced past the family in pursuit of the giant snowman. "We have to go after him _now_ before it's too late. Emma doesn't know that the monster is Marshmallow, does she?"

He turned the question to Anna, and she shook her head. "I really don't think she's going to remember the one conversation we had about it when he's having a major Godzilla moment right now."

Marshmallow wouldn't be doing this on a whim… if Elsa wasn't directly guiding his actions, she was influencing him in a _very_ bad way. Olaf stood by and watched Anna struggle with the decision to chase Marshmallow down or rescue Elsa from whatever caused her to summon him. To Olaf, it didn't make any sense: Anna spent so much time and suffered through so much pain searching for the urn, and now that Elsa was free and _here_ and just around the corner…

…she decided against making the reunion. "He looks like a bigger threat than Elsa right now," she explained, taking Olaf's hand and pulling him in the direction of Granny's Diner; Kristoff ran ahead to get his Jeep ready to roll in pursuit. "If we don't do anything, he could hurt somebody, or somebody could hurt _him._ Everyone in this town is used to seeing ogres and monsters, so they're not going to think twice about defending themselves if he gets too close."

Olaf resisted Anna's pull. "But Elsa's right _here._ "

"I know Olaf, but we have to go."

"But…!"

"We just have to go."

Olaf took one last look at the blue shine he saw clear through the shops on Main Street before he turned away and climbed into the back seat of the Jeep. He buckled himself in and kept quiet, thinking to himself as Kristoff and Anna combined their efforts to navigate the streets of Storybrooke and try to cut Marshmallow off from his current path. It was clear that his little brother had yet to go on a complete rampage, though the sheer size of his form was clumsy no matter how careful he tried to be. Kristoff had to double back a few times due to downed lines and telephone poles, delaying their progress in catching up to the cause of the destruction.

Olaf knew that Marshmallow's actions were guided purely by Elsa's emotions and needs, and there was no doubt that she wasn't doing well. The way Anna seemed content to just leave her be didn't sit right with him. He tapped his fingers together, unsure about asking the question on his mind, but the words slipped out anyway.

"Anna, do you really want to see Elsa?"

She dropped her phone in her lap, caught off-guard as she had been trying to get a hold of Emma. "I… _what?_ Olaf, why would you even ask that? Of course I do!"

"But you're hesitating," he noticed, having recognized the way she cut the argument short with him in favor of pursuing Marshmallow. "It's almost like you're afraid of her."

"Psh! I'm not afraid of Elsa!" Anna laughed, waving off his observation, though her bright smile was quick to fade. "And I'm _not_ hesitating!"

Kristoff cleared his throat, and Anna caught him side-eyeing her before he returned his focus to the road. She turned to look at Olaf in the back seat, finding herself the target of his dull stare.

"I'm _not_ , okay?! I just… haven't really figured out what to say to her yet. Or how to explain everything," she said, crossing her arms and ignoring the boys by looking out the window. "A lot happened after she left… and some of it I'm not sure I even want to tell her. She's been through enough already."

 _And being back in Storybrooke probably isn't helping,_ Anna thought. "I know it's not a _great_ idea to leave her alone right now with all this going on, but I think she needs some time to herself. We'll go find her after we make sure Marshmallow's safe."

 _Hopefully by then I'll come up with a way to say something without causing a storm…_

* * *

Emma was long gone by the time Kristoff parked behind her car on the side of the road, but it was clear which direction she headed. As if a hole had been punched straight through the forest, there was a path of broken branches, pine needles and fallen trees leading from the road into the deeper wood.

Anna gaped at the carnage in disbelief, having to remind herself who they were up against. What Elsa possessed in sheer magical power, Marshmallow (in his true form) matched in physical prowess. Both were dangerous when distressed, and talking to them in such a state was almost impossible… but she had to try.

"If Elsa's back in town, then what's Marshmallow doing all the way out here?" Anna asked, following the ruined path with Olaf and Kristoff in tow. "He's like her guardian, isn't he?"

Kristoff shrugged. "My guess is that something spooked them or made them upset, because otherwise they wouldn't be acting out like this. We should split up," he suggested, grabbing Olaf by the waist and hoisting him up to sit on his shoulders. "Anna, you run ahead to distract him. I'll get Olaf close enough to talk him down."

"…Why am _I_ the bait?"

"Because you're Elsa's _sister,_ " Kristoff said, rolling his eyes. "No matter how much you and Marshmallow argue, he's not going to hurt you."

"So then why don't _you_ run in front and grab his attention? You're his legal guardian, remember?"

With a smirk, Kristoff started heading into the undisturbed part of the forest. "I enforce his bedtime; seeing me first would probably make him angrier."

With a huff, Anna waved him off and started running down the trail of fallen trees, ignoring his loving warning to "be careful" and hurdling the trunks like a track sprinter. It worried her that she couldn't see Marshmallow on the path ahead of her, and she scanned the trees as she ran, hoping to find his white snow somewhere beyond the green shrubbery and foliage. She rounded a bend in the trail, still searching until she saw a hint of what she was looking for.

She felt the ground shake beneath her feet and heard somebody yell, followed by a rough grunt of pain or frustration, as though Marshmallow had been hit by something. Anna pushed herself to run faster, even when a quake threatened her footing and a gust of icy wind slowed her pursuit.

 _Come on… c'mon…! You have to get there in time. You CAN'T screw this up, too!_

Anna burst out of the forest into a clearing and stumbled to a halt, afraid to make another move as she witnessed the aftermath of Marshmallow's rampage. Emma, David, Killian and Robin Hood were all unconscious, bodies strewn about as the result of a ferocious giant backhand. Marshmallow was to Anna's right and she kept her distance, watching him as he glowered upon the fallen with bared fangs and claws, determining whether or not they were still a threat.

Holding her breath, she took one careful step forward, and gulped when she saw movement from the corner of her eye. Marshmallow noticed it as well, and they both looked to find a sole woman who had been spared from his assault. She held a bow in one hand and nocked an arrow with the other, standing defiant and brave against Marshmallow despite her slim odds of defeating him.

"You monster…" she seethed, pulling back the string, causing Anna to scramble into motion.

She heard Kristoff and Olaf yelling Marshmallow's name as she ran towards the foolish woman with the bow. "No! Stop!" Anna yelled, feeling the ground shake. "He's going to—"

The bow twanged as the arrow flew loose, and Anna skid to a stop, watching it shatter to splinters against Marshmallow's shoulder. He shook it off as it was—nothing—and set his glare upon the woman who dared to attack him.

Before Anna could yell the word "Run!" Marshmallow was already there. He knocked the woman down with a simple push, and the mere provocation of her actually _hitting_ him made him do the unthinkable.

He raised his foot, casting the woman in his shadow.

"Marshmallow, stop! What are you doing?!" Anna screamed, daring to get closer as Olaf and Kristoff ran out from the forest.

Olaf was visibly torn by what his brother was doing. "Stop it! You're going to hurt her!" he cried. "Stop it! _Elsa_ wouldn't want you to do something like this!"

The mention of Elsa made Marshmallow hesitate. Foot still in the air, he balanced precariously on the edge of ending this woman's life, conflicted. "But… Mama…" he started, thinking of her, remembering the pure terror in her eyes and the indescribable ache he felt from her heart.

Anna started inching closer to the woman in peril as Marshmallow was distracted, confident in Kristoff's words that he wouldn't hurt her. If she could get the woman out of danger or step in the way of it herself, she was sure he would back off and—

She froze. A cloud of purple smoke appeared behind Marshmallow, dissipating to reveal Regina Mills armed and ready with a fireball burning in her open palm. She took a brief glance at Anna and the other helpless woman, both caught in the shadow of Marshmallow's raised foot, and let her magic fly against Anna's screaming protest to stand down.

Marshmallow stumbled to the side and fell to his knees as the flame struck his back. It coursed through the cracks in his armor, ripping apart the weak magic that held the snow together until it began to fall to pieces. The bright blue glow of his eyes faded out into nothing, lifeless as the rest of him crumbled into a pile of snow and ice.

The world slowed down into silent monochrome as Anna watched Marshmallow die right before her eyes. She looked up, witnessing the last bits of him disintegrate, the final being the scary maw of the terrible snow monster… and it crumbled to reveal the form of a young boy who looked as though he was just waking from a nap. The sudden reversal of his transformation kept him suspended in mid-air for a moment, but an unforgiving pile of packed snow and ice awaited his fall. A just punishment, he felt, for the act he was about to commit.

His family didn't think twice about sparing him from that pain. Kristoff rushed in, clambered up the snow pile and caught the boy before he struck a piece of ice. "Whoa! Whoa, hey. It's okay," Kristoff said, taking a deep breath and smiling when Marshmallow clutched at his shirt and gasped for air, frightened by the short plummet. Kristoff fell back to sit in the snow, relaxing as Anna and Olaf joined them and collapsed in relief.

"Thank goodness," Anna sighed, brushing some snow off of Marshmallow's sweater and squeezing his arm, reminding him that he was alive and the conflict was over. She put her hand to his cheek and reeled; his skin was freezing to the touch. His defeat and subsequent fall was the cause of his shivers, however, for she knew he had an immunity to the cold like the rest of his frozen family.

As the heroes around them started coming to, Marshmallow took solace in seeing them get back to their feet. He and Regina shared a glance as she stalked by, and instead of turning his anger upon her, he beckoned for his brother instead. "Olaf, I found Mama," he said, sounding sad and tired with the news.

Olaf guessed as much due to Marshmallow running off during class and reappearing as a snow monster. "Is she okay?" he asked, worried for Elsa after all the commotion accompanying her return.

Marshmallow nodded once, and then quickly shook his head, changing his mind. "Not hurt," he said, struggling how to explain what he felt, "but scared… angry, and…"

He looked up at Anna and frowned, hoping she would understand how to interpret for him. He patted his chest over his heart. "Deep pain here. Deep, deep sadness."

Anna knew the reason for it, too. She glanced down at the necklace she wore with her work uniform, swallowing hard when she saw the snowflake pendant. "She's… going to need our help," Anna admitted, brushing a stiff lock of hair away from Marshmallow's eye. He smiled at her and leaned into her palm, feeling the heat radiate from her skin to make his cheeks glow.

"She needs warmth," he said, much calmer now as he looked to who he was surrounded by. "She needs family."

* * *

It was twilight before the cabin got back to some kind of half-baked "normal". The hours passed quickly as Anna, Kristoff and Olaf helped Marshmallow warm up and recover from his long day, fending off his protests that he was fine and didn't need their attention. Again, he reminded Anna of her sister and how she would refuse any sort of aid when she was faking her wellbeing.

She was still out in Storybrooke somewhere… alone and scared. That dampened the mood for the whole evening, knowing that Elsa was back in town but absent from the rest of her family.

Marshmallow couldn't give them any insight to what she was thinking or what she planned to do. "She turned me into snow by accident," he said simply, thinking little of it. "I chased away anyone who looked scary so she wouldn't be afraid anymore."

The reason he stomped through the town and caused such a commotion was to draw away anyone who was capable of hurting Elsa, thinking that's why she was afraid. What he intended to do once he faced them, though… well, that was a conversation for another day. To be honest, nobody wanted to know the answer to that question.

The family split up after the sun set to try to decompress for the evening. Kristoff carried Marshmallow to bed early, choosing to lie with him just in case he had trouble falling asleep. Meanwhile, Olaf followed Anna outside, sitting with her on the top step of the front deck. He kept himself entertained in the silence between them, huffing to watch his breath fog in the cold air, while Anna thought quietly to herself.

She was hunched over, elbows on her knees and chin in her hands as she stared out into the dark surrounding forest. So much had happened in such a short amount of time; the past month and a half felt like a tornado had come through to destroy her life, only for it to be slapped back together in about a week. Kristoff was human again, Zelena was _gone_ in every sense of the word, and Elsa was here and alive and… completely and totally unwell, just like the last time she saw her.

Olaf could not ignore her worried stare. "Are you okay?" he asked, feeling his heart sink when he saw her shake her head.

"I'm really, _really_ confused right now," she admitted, folding her hands in her lap. "I know I have to help Elsa. I _want_ to, and I always have," she said with a half-smile, "but I have no idea what to do. I never figured it out before everything went wrong."

Thinking, Olaf tapped his fingers together as he looked up at the moon above the trees. "Hmm… I know hot chocolate always makes her smile!" he suggested, getting a short giggle from Anna.

"I don't think that's going to work this time, Olaf."

"Ice-skating?"

"She'd probably laugh when I fall, but I don't think that'll work, either."

"Why don't you just talk to her, then?"

The idea made Anna cringe, just like the first time it was suggested that day. She'd promised they would go find Elsa after they made sure Marshmallow was safe, but the late hour and her own procrastination kept Anna from following through. She looked down at her hands, feeling a little sick as she imagined how that conversation would go. "I think I'm the last person she wants to talk to right now."

"So? You've gotta try, Anna!" Olaf said, doing what he could to inspire her. He looked to the dark road that led to the cabin and smiled, patting her arm. "Oh! Oh, she's right over there! You can go right now!"

Anna blinked, scanning the area for any sign of her sister, but she saw nothing. "What are you talking about? She's not—"

"Yeah she is! She's super close too. Even closer than earlier, actually," he said, pointing to where he saw that peculiar blue glow. He kept his finger trained on it as it moved, smiling still while Anna's face fell in dismay. "Wow, she is _really_ moving fast."

But at that speed, and in the direction she was moving…

"…She's going to the town line!"

Anna bolted off of the deck in one swift move, sprinting down the path to the main road with Olaf stumbling after her, lagging behind.

 _Elsa, what are you doing?!_

* * *

Every step she took was uncertain. Every breath, labored. She was shaking and her joints ached.

Elsa was _cold._

Her gaze focused on the road only slightly ahead; she had no confidence or courage left to pick up her head and face what awaited her. The hours she passed in hiding were spent listening to a terrifying cacophony of screams, followed by yelling and a desperate plea for someone to "Stop that monster!"

Her breath hitched as she remembered it. "That monster" was her. They may have been looking at Marshmallow—and she would never forgive herself if he had gotten hurt in all this— but she knew whoever said those words were aiming them at her.

 _I don't know why I came back after the accident last night. Why did I think I could make this work?_

She folded her arms against her stomach, desperately wishing she had some kind of warmth to cling to. Out here there was nothing, just her and this long, lonely road to her exile.

 _No one wants you here. You don't belong here._

And she couldn't go home. She'd convinced herself that anyone she asked for help would deny her. She was hated by some and feared by most in this town; aiding her would be self-subjection to public disgrace and social suicide. Elsa was on her own, and this was the only solution she could come up with for the sake of Storybrooke and her own self.

There was one small part of her that begged her not to commit to it when she saw the fluorescent orange line painted across the road. Matching flags were planted in the grass on either side, one last warning to travelers to turn back—or else. With her heart beating wild in her chest, Elsa approached the line and stopped several feet away, not in regret but in fear of what would happen to her once she crossed it.

She closed her eyes and swallowed.

 _It doesn't matter anyway._

Taking a deep breath, she opened her eyes and took one step forward, ignorant to the sound of footfalls approaching behind her.

"…sa!"

She stilled at the voice. _Was that…? No. No, she wouldn't—_

"Elsa!"

Anna slipped on a small patch of ice and stumbled to a halt, catching her breath as she matched sight to memory of the figure before her. Pale skin, blue dress, sparkly cape, _crown_ … the last time she saw this, it was a trick, a lie put in place by someone else to trap her. This time though, something was different. Subtle movements, the way she breathed… the way that she held herself, and how she was trembling until she heard the sound of her name.

It was only then that Anna knew for sure that the person before her was real. She saw her shoulders fall back and her head rise, a perfectly practiced form of elegance and poise no one could dare match. A glance was cast in her direction from over the shoulder, making her feel small and—for a moment—afraid as she stood within her sister's intimidating shadow.

The cold gripped Elsa's heart and steeled her emotions as she forced herself to turn around, to face this one person who chased after the true monster of Storybrooke. She locked eyes with her and clenched her fists, feeling that knowing itch of magic in her palms when her memories refused to let her forget what happened between them.

"Anna."


	16. Rift

They looked at each other like they were strangers.

The changes between them were subtle, nothing more than posture differences and habits only a sister would notice, but it was enough. Anna was not the same woman she was one year ago, and it was quite clear that Elsa wasn't, either.

She looked tired, exhausted physically and mentally though her stare still managed to pierce Anna's heart. The pain she held in her eyes… that empty look which burned so cold trapped Anna in her gaze.

"Elsa… how did you…?"

How did she return? Elsa had the same question. Her hands clenched into fists, wanting to elaborate to someone else, wishing her urn ended up anywhere but Storybrooke. "I don't know," she said in her native tongue, voice low, raspy and quiet. Her brows drew together as she fought off the memories that had been chasing her all day, the same ones which mocked and belittled her inside her pitch black prison. "Why did you follow me here?"

Anna gulped. "Olaf saw you walking towards the line, so I—"

"So you're trying to stop me?" Elsa shook her head and narrowed her eyes. "No, you're trying to save me," she realized. "It's a little too late for that, Anna."

"I know, but…" Cringing, Anna bit her lip, afraid that anything she said would make her sister take those short dreadful steps across the town line and out of her life forever. "I want to make this right."

"You could have done that a long time ago."

"I tried! How could you think that I didn't?!" Anna closed her eyes, trying to keep herself together. The heavy guilt she carried for so long threatened to crush her now, and she wanted nothing more than to scream at the top of her lungs and drown it beneath the noise. "Elsa… I wanted to come after you right away, but so much stuff happened after you left."

" _Really?_ Like that's not already clear to me," Elsa scoffed, motioning to the road and the town beyond. "What _happened?_ Why is everyone here? How did I…?" She stopped herself, feeling the emotions she reigned back bubble to the surface, ready to explode. "No. You know what? Forget it. It doesn't matter. I can't stay here."

After everything she had seen and endured during her short revival, it would take a strong argument from Anna to convince her to stay, and she'd have to do it quick. Whatever words she managed to piece together were lost when she found herself locked again in Elsa's cold, dead stare, despite Elsa not looking at her at all. Her gaze was focused beyond, to the paved road and dark wood where the moon had yet to reach.

Elsa saw someone approach from the shadows and she held her breath, hesitating to follow through with her plan to leave when a young boy stepped out into the streetlight. " _Huff_ … _huff_ … whew! Made it!" Olaf smiled. He put a hand on Anna's hip and leaned on her like she was a post, wiping his brow as he caught his breath. "Man, being human is _hard,_ " he joked, knowing Anna usually would have laughed at him for the comment, but she looked scared when she glanced down at him.

It was then that Olaf caught that blue shine from the corner of his eye. He turned, smile turning into a wide grin when he saw who was standing there. "Elsa!" he cried. He bounced on his feet, he was so happy. "See, Anna? I told you she wasn't a lamp!" he said, playfully hitting her in the arm before he ran to cross the distance to his creator with outstretched arms.

"W-Wait, Olaf, don't…" Elsa coiled into herself and took a small step backwards, shying away from the boy and closer to her fate.

He cantered to a stop and lowered his arms. "You don't want a warm hug…?" he asked with a frown, feeling lost when Elsa shook her head. "But… but I missed you."

"I've missed you too, but I…" She looked to Anna and closed her eyes, fighting herself against what she wanted and steeling herself for what needed to be done. There was no time for hugs, and no reason for explanations when she knew it wouldn't change how she felt or what was to come. Elsa had but one question she needed answered, and she directed it to her boy instead of her sister.

For a brief moment, her ice cold façade melted and left her looking vulnerable and frail. "…Is Marshmallow okay?"

Olaf wrung his hands together and nodded. "Yeah. He's not hurt, but he's worried about you."

A light chuckle from Her Majesty brought back a brief image of her real personality, of the warm and caring person she truly was, but the pain brought on from her isolation returned in an instant. "That's okay. As long as he's safe, then I have no regrets."

Anna and Olaf were puzzled by her words. It was when Elsa turned her back on them and faced the town line that they understood.

 _You idiot!_ "What are you doing?!" Anna yelled. It was such a short sprint from where she was standing to where Elsa was going, and still she felt as though she wouldn't make it in time, that the distance was too vast to save her sister from doing the unthinkable. Elsa didn't hear her, forcing herself to block out her environment and just keep walking until she was on the other side of that orange line.

It wasn't far now, about five yards or so until she'd save Storybrooke by removing herself from it. Pushing through any lingering doubts, Elsa continued her pace until her cape caught on something and reigned her back. Irritated, she whirled and grabbed the edge of it, intent on wresting it free until she saw Anna standing on the end of the train.

"Get. Off." Even the rasp in her voice couldn't mask her dark tone. " _Now._ "

Anna held her ground as Elsa tugged at the regal drapery. "I can't let you do this."

"You don't understand."

"No, _you_ don't understand! Elsa, we were cursed again!" Anna cried, weathering her sister's attempts to break free. "If you cross the line, you won't have your magic, your memories, and who knows what else could happen to you?!"

Gritting her teeth, Elsa waved her hand at her cape, shearing off the end where Anna stood. "I don't care!" she yelled, turning her back on her once more.

With tears in her eyes, Anna rushed forward and grabbed her wrist, forcing her to stumble away from the line. " _I_ care! We _all_ care!" she yelled, planting her feet and holding onto Elsa with both hands, afraid of what would happen if she let her slip through her grasp. "Why do you think I ran out here to stop you?!"

Elsa said nothing and didn't dare to look back, keeping her sights on the dark road before her as her memories clashed with her aching heart. She tried to move forward, but Anna wouldn't let go. "Stop acting like a _child_ ," Elsa seethed. "It's too late. You can't _fix_ _this_ anymore."

"She's trying!" Olaf cried, unable to stand the turmoil between the two. "Anna's been looking for you for a really, _really_ long time, and…!" He paused, glanced up at that thought and tapped his chin, musing on it for another second. "Actually, it's been about a year already. Wow, time sure flies! Right, Anna?"

Anna's heart skipped a beat when she felt the tension in Elsa's arm go lax, blind to the look of horror that crossed her face.

"…It's been one year since I was trapped in the urn?"

"Almost!" Olaf nodded. "Or longer. You kinda fell in a portal and got lost in time and… what?" he asked, looking at Anna when she frantically waved at him and made a zipper motion across her lips. "Ohh… I wasn't supposed to tell her, was I?"

Anna pursed her lips, heart flooding with dread as the air around them suddenly got colder. The chill bit at her fingers, and she looked down to find frost sprouting upon Elsa's hand, wincing when it encroached upon her own. She let go and swallowed her fear, looking at the back of her sister's blonde head, remembering by the sight of her crown that she _could_ be temperate. "…Elsa?"

"I-I… I was…"

Erased from the world for almost a year… and imprisoned for much longer.

Elsa covered her ears, pressing her hands hard against her head to block out their voices. She didn't want to hear a word of explanation, not a single excuse or reason why she had to be put through such torture.

 _I was right._

Her magic surged through her veins, chilling her blood and settling into her hands.

 _I don't belong here._

Anna felt that knowing prickling sensation run up her arms and down her back. It wasn't from the cold, but from the air growing saturated with Elsa's power. "I swear I've been trying to find you ever since that day," Anna tried to explain, almost feeling sick with the amount of magic flowing around them. "But the curse took my memories of last year and I didn't know—"

"I trusted you."

"I _swear_ I didn't know! I'm sorry. I'm so sor—"

Overwhelmed, Elsa spun around and faced her sister, leaving her paralyzed with the furious look in her eyes. The blue aura of her power made her frosted hands glow, the essence of it so strong and uncontained that it rolled up her arms and lanced off her shoulders.

"I _TRUSTED_ YOU, ANNA!"

She threw her hands down, unwittingly casting her magic behind her. Thick spires of ice grew from where her magic struck the pavement, creaking in strain as they reached towards the sky and formed a barrier between her and the town line. The noise, so familiar and shameful, forced Elsa to turn around and witness what she had done. The wall grew beyond her control, dwarfing her in its great shadow and sending tremors through the ground as it expanded, stretching into the woods.

"No…" Elsa looked down at her hands and then to the barricade of ice, feeling the magic course through her body, utterly and completely lost on how to contain it. Any attempt she made to stop the wall from growing went in vain, adding to her stress when it seemed that her efforts were only making it worse. She wanted to run, to get out of Storybrooke to keep her chaos to a minimum, but when she realized that her own magic was preventing her escape, she was devastated.

Her heart raced as quickly as her mind, trying to find another way out. There was more than one road leading out of Storybrooke, and crossing the border through the forest was viable… if only she could tell where the wall of ice ended. It continued on into the darkness as far as she could see.

Anna watched as her sister paced, eyeing the wall as its pillars popped and settled. "Hey, Elsa? Maybe we should—"

Whatever she wanted to suggest, Elsa didn't want to hear. She stalked towards the wall, angry at it for forming against her will and wanting nothing more than it to shatter by her presence alone. Instead, her anger caused the ice to retaliate against her.

Frost burst out from the base of the wall, catching her by surprise as it spread beneath her feet while more spikes and pillars rose to life around her. "Stop… stop it," she begged, trying to command her power by will alone. She held out her hands in an attempt to reign the magic in, and gave up in the pursuit when a stalagmite of ice erupted from the ground before her. Elsa stumbled backwards and into a rising column, staring in horror as the area around her formed into a second layer of the main wall.

Anna saw the danger and ran towards it as the ice began to surround her sister. "Elsa!" she yelled, stumbling as the second wall roared to life and Elsa disappeared behind it. In a frantic search for help, she looked back and saw Olaf struggling to stay on his feet through the tremors, just as lost and afraid as she was.

" _It's too late. You can't fix this anymore."_

Elsa's words repeated in Anna's mind, harkening to the many recurring nightmares she had after losing her through the time portal. In each and every dream, Anna failed in her promise to keep her sister safe, and Elsa would suffer for it. It couldn't happen in reality, especially not now.

Taking another glance at the ice wall, Anna shrieked as a utility pole crashed down to the pavement between them, blowing the transformer it housed. "Olaf, stand back!" she ordered, holding a hand out as she backpedaled towards him and away from the sparks.

He looked anxious, staring at the last place he saw Elsa before she disappeared behind the wall. "What are we going to do?" he asked, grabbing Anna's arm when she got close. "We gotta help her!"

"I know, I know! But she's…" Anna bit her lip, taking a short breath of relief when the ground stopped shaking and Elsa's magic ceased movement in every direction. "I'm only going to make things worse if I try talking to her again."

"Okay, so… I'll go talk to her instead!"

Olaf's suggestion was brave, but Anna was afraid that seeing _any_ of her family would send Elsa into another flying rage or panic attack. She patted Olaf on the shoulder and knelt down next to him as she took her phone from her pocket. "We'll stay here, but I think we're going to need some backup on this one."

* * *

The ground trembled beneath her feet as she felt the ice shift around her. It creaked as it strained and stretched, pelting her with small bits of rubble and occasional dustings of snow. The wall behind her was becoming thicker and it encroached upon her location, arching in such a way that it would grow into the wall she faced right now to create a small cave with no entrance or exit.

She placed her hands on the rough surface before her, finding her faint reflection in the cloudy ice tinged with blue.

 _Move._

The wall shuddered at her silent command, but did nothing more than make the flurry around her grow more prominent. Elsa dropped her head in defeat, knowing that her freedom and escape was on the other side of her own magical barrier.

 _I'm not that hopeless. This should be nothing._

The cold, hard pulse of her heart begged to differ.

She lost herself to racing thoughts, fighting off echoes from her past and the haunting screams from earlier that day while trying to determine her next course of action… if there were any left to take. Her breath became short when it all threatened to crush her under the pressure, and behind these thick walls where no one could see her, she might have allowed herself to finally break down and collapse from the weight of her burdens.

A light footstep in the snow behind her kept her from caving in to that defeat.

"Whoa… Elsa, is that you?"

An innocent voice, not one of her family, and not one she had heard for a very long time. Elsa picked her head up and removed her hands from the wall, taking one last glance at herself before she turned to meet the fool who dared to pursue her. "…Emma?"

The savior nodded, standing still as she compared Elsa's current appearance to what she remembered of her before the second curse. Back then, Elsa was a starving artist who had little money to spend on expensive clothing and mostly dressed in sweaters and sneakers. To see her now in an elegant and somewhat rebellious gown was jarring; it was such a drastic transformation from her cursed counterpart.

Emma blinked and shook her head. "S-Sorry, it's just that you look… wow. I forgot that the whole "Snow Queen" thing is real."

Elsa wasn't the least bit amused by her flippancy. "What are you doing here?"

"I was about to ask you the same thing. There, uh… there's a blackout going on right now," Emma stammered, gesturing beyond the wall that was still growing. "David and I came out to see where the problem was, but then Anna called and—"

"She wants you to stop me." Elsa pursed her lips together, so frustrated with her little sister that she regretted not walking over the line when she had the chance. "She knows I won't listen to her, so she sent you instead."

"Hey, nobody "sent" me anywhere. The power went out, and Anna just happened to call on my way over here. That's it." Emma put her hands on her hips, wishing Elsa knew that she wasn't lying. "So since I'm here, do you mind telling me what this is all about? Killian said the wall goes around the whole town."

The news made Elsa's heart skip a beat and her eyes went wide, losing her poise for a moment when she heard the walls shift again. It forced a short tremor through the ground, adding more flakes to her flurry when she realized how quickly the situation had gotten out of hand. "I…"

"Emma!"

The two women turned to the only remaining gap in the wall, finding David running towards it with Killian right behind him. "Emma, the wall's getting thicker. You need to get out of there _now,_ " David warned, looking past his daughter to find Elsa standing alone. "Why is she doing this?"

Emma held up her hands to keep David and Killian away as the wall shuddered again. "Stay back, okay? I'm trying to figure it out. She's upset, and—"

"And what? Blocking the town exits is supposed to help her?" Killian stepped forward and pointed his hook at Elsa as he tried to reason with Emma. "I've dealt with my fair share of magic, luv, and I know it can't be trusted. She's plotting something."

"Killian, she's fine!"

Another quake tore through the ground, causing the gathered group to stumble. Elsa fell against the wall and held onto it to brace herself, but the moment her hands touched the ice, the entire structure pulsed with a bright blue light. The part of the wall that had been trying to form shot up now, growing to match the height of the first and causing chunks of older ice to fall off and crash to the ground.

David saw the danger and reached for his gun. Though he didn't draw it, Elsa still saw the motion and recognized it as a threat.

Meanwhile, Anna watched from a distance with Olaf, unable to stand by when she saw David put his hand on his holster. "What are you doing?!" she screamed, racing towards them through the quakes and falling ice. "You're making it worse! Get _away_ from-!"

The wall pulsed blue again, roaring against the will of its creator and conceding to her overwhelming fear. It rejected Anna just as she would, attempting to keep her at bay with stalagmites in her path to the cave. Still, when Anna got too close, and when David's threat became all too real, Elsa's magic retaliated, sending a cascade of ice raining down from the top of the wall. Anna slid to a stop just as a boulder came crashing down before her, but the force of the impact was enough to knock her to the ground and leave her dazed.

Her ears rang as she turned to her side, struggling to sit up until Olaf rushed to her aid. He smiled to see that she wasn't hurt, but when he turned to look at the wall, his horrified expression told Anna everything she couldn't hear. She held her breath and followed his gaze, finding that the smaller wall had merged with the first, and that the only gap to get into the cave between them was now covered by solid frozen rubble.

 _Oh no. No, no, no…_

She saw David and Killian scrambling back to the wall, both of whom must have been knocked back by the same boulder. Seething, Anna got to her feet, shaking her head to clear her dotted vision and muffled hearing as she ran to join them with Olaf.

In a futile effort, the men tried to move the debris that covered the gap, but the frozen mass was impossible to shift. Anna put her hands on the wall, imagining her sister inside, unknowing if she was hurt or otherwise. "Elsa!" she yelled, knowing her effort would be for naught, but she had to try. "Elsa!" She stepped back and reached for Olaf's hand, holding it tight when she looked to David for help.

He reached for the inside of his jacket and fumbled for his radio, almost dropping it in panic. "Emma, do you read me?" he called, pausing to listen to the static on the other side. He tried again, the device shaking in his hand as he tried to get through to his daughter. "Emma, are you there?!"

They all waited in silence, hoping for a response in the long, agonizing seconds that followed. Olaf huddled close to Anna's side, seeing Elsa's heart shine through the wall, though the pulse of it was slower compared to what it had been.

Distraught, David tried one last time to reach through to them. "Emma… please, if you can hear me, say _something!_ "

"…I'm here."

A collective sigh of relief was shared among the group outside of the wall. "Thank goodness," Anna breathed, putting a hand over her heart as she looked to David.

"How's Elsa?"

There was a pause, much longer than Anna could stand to hear. "She got knocked down when the ice fell, but she's okay," Emma said, sounding tired. "I don't think she's hurt."

"Can you find a way out?"

"I… I don't know. It all looks solid to me."

"Elsa's trapped them in there," Killian said, watching Anna as she returned to the wall. "Unless one of you has a better way to get them out, I suggest we start breaking our way inside."

Anna put her hand to the ice, running her fingertips across the surface as she walked the length of it and started forming a plan. Olaf followed her, trying to come up with a solution on his own until he saw her stop and press her forehead to the wall.

She closed her eyes, feeling the cold upon her skin, knowing that the entire structure went up against Elsa's will. As much as she wanted to, she wouldn't be able to thaw it; her heart was broken, and it was clear that she was feeling unloved despite Anna and Olaf running to keep her from crossing the town line. Unless she and Emma could come up with a solution on their side, it was up to Anna and the others to make an opening large enough for them to pass through.

"Elsa's magic made this thing... so we'll need magic to take it down. I've got an idea!" Anna smiled, turning to face the rest of the group. "Olaf, you stay here with David and Killian. Talk to Elsa through the walkie-talkie and try to keep her calm, okay?"

"Okay!" Olaf cheered, already inspired by the idea when David knelt next to him with the radio.

Killian, however, looked skeptical. "Talking to her isn't going to do a damn thing. We'd be better off asking the Evil Queen to melt it down."

"That's a good Plan B!" Anna smirked as she backed away from the wall, taking one final look at it. "I'll be right back, I swear!"

"Of course you will," Killian grumbled, shaking his head as he watched Anna take off in a run towards the cabin. He turned to David and Olaf, finding them both fully engrossed in Anna's course of action. "Perhaps we should be working on recruiting "Plan B" to the cause instead of messing around with that… device," he said, gesturing to the radio.

David looked over his shoulder, confident despite the dire circumstance. "Anna knows Elsa better than anyone else," he said, sharing a knowing smile with Olaf. "I'm trusting that she'll find a way to save her and Emma without making the situation worse."

"And what if she doesn't? You're just going to leave your daughter to freeze to death?"

Olaf turned around to face Killian, staying brave despite the pirate's skepticism. "Anna doesn't give up on the people she loves, and deep down, Elsa loves her family more than anything. They'll figure it out!" he grinned, taking the walkie-talkie when David handed it to him. "We just have to do what we can to help them!"

* * *

The place was quiet… almost eerie in atmosphere as she stood and looked around. By sight, it reminded her of the ice palace as the thick walls pulsed with her power. By all other accounts, it was very similar to the urn. The silence caused her thoughts to race and the ice allowed her no warmth or escape.

Unlike the urn though, she had a physical form here… and she wasn't alone.

Elsa held her hands together, watching Emma push on the frozen rubble covering the entrance to the cave. "That isn't going to work," Elsa said, her dour tone hiding how amusing it was that Emma thought she could escape by physical force alone. "You're just going to make yourself colder."

"Yeah, well… had to try something." Emma rubbed her hands together before she tucked them beneath her arms, fighting off shivers in face of Elsa's stoic poise. She seemed to be reveling in the cold air, not disturbed by it at all and silently bragging her immunity by choosing to dress in her magic's element. "Being stuck in here isn't bothering you much, is it?"

Elsa shrugged. "I'm away from Storybrooke. That's all that matters," she said, eyeing the wall that shielded her from the town as she turned her back to it. Slowly, she walked towards the taller, thicker wall that sat upon the town line, thinking of her future that lie just beyond it. "I've done enough to it for one day. Those people don't deserve to live with the threat of me being there constantly."

Emma took a few steps towards her and started to pace, doing what she could to stay warm. "People were pretty freaked out when they saw Marshmallow," she admitted, having witnessed his monstrous grand entrance onto Main Street. "And I heard your title get thrown around a few times. Did something happen in the Enchanted Forest?" She pursed her lips together, failing to stop their quivering as she waited for Elsa to answer. "Is that why you didn't come back with everyone else during the second curse?"

"…I don't want to talk about it."

"That bad, huh?"

Placing her hand against the ice, Elsa lowered her head and closed her eyes. "I've spent the last year of my life trapped inside of an urn because of it, and I haven't thought of anything else since." She paused, forcing the memory at bay to keep what little restraint on her magic she had left. Mentioning her prison made her think of a question instead, and she looked over her shoulder to ask what she feared to know. "…Is it true that I fell through a time portal?"

For a brief moment Emma stopped shivering, stuck instead on how to answer the question without making Elsa feel worse. "I… I don't know. That's what I was told, but I didn't see it happen."

With a hard scoff, Elsa turned around to face her. "And I'm going to guess that Anna was the one who told you?"

"Yeah, well, she was there, so…" Emma blinked and raised a brow, hesitant. "Why am I getting the feeling you're not happy see her?"

"Because I'm not."

She could blame it on her environment, but Emma suddenly felt colder when she looked at Elsa. Her narrow eyes backed her words, stance unflinching in face of Emma's confusion. "Seriously, what happened between you two? You and Anna were always close, even during the curse!"

Elsa exhaled, breath invisible in the cold. "That was then. Now is different. Some things happened and it's a long story I don't want to tell."

A silence fell between them and they both stared at each other, waiting for the other to speak her mind or concede to an explanation. Assuming the conversation was over, Elsa turned away and wandered to the far side of the cave, allowing Emma to notice her rigid movements. Her jaw was set in such a way to hide her regret; she kept her eyes focused to prevent any sign of nervousness. Hands clenched, she held her magic back by force, and her intimidating presence was only diminished by her regal cape being torn just above her ankles.

Emma didn't know Elsa as well as some of the other Storybrooke residents, but she could tell when a person was trying to hide in plain sight.

"You can't control it, can you?"

Elsa came to a halt, heels clicking against the ice as she turned to snap her glare at Emma.

"The snow monster, the ice all over town, this wall… it all happened because you can't control your powers."

There was a shift in the air, a sudden drop in temperature that made Emma reel but also proved her right. Though she couldn't see it, she could feel the power emanating from Elsa, growing stronger with her ire.

"You don't know me," Elsa snapped. "You know _nothing_ of what I've been through, and I doubt you've ever read my story. What makes you think you understand how my magic works?"

Braving through a violent shiver, Emma held herself and looked up. Her green eyes were hard and cold, just like Elsa's, giving a glimpse into her vulnerability past a shield of strength and principles. "Because I'm just like you." She paused, noticing Elsa's slight flinch. "I was born to be a savior and I have no idea what that means or what I'm supposed to be doing. I have magic, but half the time I can't get it to work. It's hard just trying to keep myself warm," she admitted, dropping her harsh tone when she relented to the cold numbing her fingers and toes. "I get why you want to leave when everything you do gets thrown back in your face, because it happens to me all the time."

Elsa hesitated to speak, unsure what to say when Emma related to her with such accuracy. She glanced around the cave, and then down to her hands, relenting to the confession she'd been holding back when she saw the frost reappear on her palms. "…I've lost control of my magic twice in the last year," she said, keeping her head down as she spoke. "The first time I had someone help me learn how to reign it in. The second time, I…"

Her throat went dry and she looked up, stuck again in that same memory which haunted her for so long. Emma saw the pain in her eyes, the look of despair that came through her false stalwart appearance. "You don't have to tell me. I get it. Something bad happened and you ended up in an urn," she guessed, coaxing Elsa's gaze back to her.

"It was an accident. Everything I did there, and everything that happened today has been one huge accident I've been trying to stop, but it just keeps getting worse." Her shoulders fell when she saw Emma zip up her jacket as high as it would go. "And now I've trapped you here with me. Emma, I didn't mean for this to happen. It's my fault that—"

"Hey! Hey, it's okay," Emma assured, holding out a hand to try to stop Elsa's surge of guilt. "We're two smart, magically gifted women. We'll figure a way out of here." She walked up to the wall where she had been trying to push before, eyeing the fused ice. "So… since you're the Snow Queen and all, do you think maybe you could, y'know… _melt_ that?"

Elsa rubbed her hands together, daunted by the task when her heart sped up in protest against the idea. "I haven't been able to thaw a single thing I've created since I got here." She cringed at Emma's disappointed frown, but was quick to come up with another possible solution. "What about your magic? Could it work?"

"I don't know. Never tried to fight a _wall_ before," Emma joked. She bounced on her toes and shook out the tension in her shoulders, trying to psych herself up and remember what she needed to do to bring forth her power. Planting her feet, she closed her eyes and held her hands close together at her middle, concentrating on the air and energy between them.

Elsa stood back and watched, fearing what would happen if they weren't able to escape her mistake. There was no doubt she'd be fine until the need for food became a problem, but Emma… she'd freeze to death long before then. The more Elsa thought about it, the more worked up she became, shooting down any hope that she'd be able to help Emma or keep from making the situation worse.

A crackling noise caught her ear and she looked to the side of the cave, over to where a half-formed stalagmite stood alone and out of place from the others. Upon it was the radio Emma brought with her, and as Elsa listened she could hear a voice trying to come through the static. It was young, familiar, and somehow optimistic despite the scary circumstance.

… _Olaf?_

* * *

Anna burst through the front door of the cabin, letting out a shriek of surprise just before she barreled into Kristoff.

"Whoa, whoa! Slow down!" he laughed as he caught her. "Where'd you run off to? I was going to sit out with you and Olaf, but—"

Anna grabbed the collar of his shirt and looked him square in the eyes. "Elsa, its Kristoff!" she said, then blinked when he squinted at her. "Uh, I mean... reverse that! Olaf saw her walking to the town line so I tried to stop her but when she saw me she looked mad and then when I tried talking to her she got _mad_ mad, and—"

"Anna, hold on a minute—"

"…she tried to leave so I stepped on her cape and then—"

"Anna?"

"…but she was _snowing_ and you know how she is when she's snowing so—"

"Anna!" Kristoff put his hands on her shoulders to stop her rambling, and got an irritated glare in return.

She put a finger to her lips. "Shh! Why are you yelling?!" she asked, whispering now when she was talking so loud just moments before. "Marshmallow's trying to sleep!"

"I wasn't-!" Taking a deep breath, Kristoff calmed himself out of making a retort and chose instead to focus on the source of Anna's worry. "Never mind. You said something about Elsa. What happened?"

"…Did you not pay attention to _anything_ I just said?"

"You were rambling!"

"Shh!"

Kristoff rolled his eyes and let go of Anna's shoulders, taking a step back. "Okay, calmly this time: What happened?"

It took everything in her power not to blurt out the full details of the situation as fast as possible, but Anna restrained herself as she retold the story. She hugged her elbow to her side when she came to the end of it, feeling worse now that she had time to think of how her sister must have felt during the confrontation. "I shouldn't have gone. I should have had Olaf talk to her instead."

"Would Olaf get there in time to stop her?" Kristoff asked. He crossed his arms and shook his head. "Sounds to me like you got to her right before she walked over the line."

"Yeah, but now she's trapped in that wall with Emma and… Kristoff, you should have seen how upset she was. I knew it was going to be bad, but this is even worse."

He scratched the back of his head. "Sounds a lot like her coronation day to be honest. Her powers went off, people got scared, _she_ got scared, she exiles herself and… builds an ice palace."

Anna smacked him in the chest. "Only this isn't a palace, smarty-pants. She's really stuck in there, and I don't think she can calm down enough to get herself out."

Kristoff raised a brow and smirked. "Ah. Looks like you need the help of an ice harvester."

"No, I need my _sword._ "

His eyes grew wide as his smile fell, thinking his expertise was unneeded until Anna laughed and pecked him on the cheek with a kiss.

"Please, I'm _kidding._ Do you still have your harvesting tools?"

Kristoff nodded and began walking towards the kitchen. "They're in the shed with Sven. I'll let him know to keep an eye on things and watch out for Marshmallow trying to escape the cabin. Last thing we need right now is for him to go snow monster again."

* * *

Though Kristoff's cabin was a bit of a bike ride from Storybrooke proper, right now Anna was thankful for its convenient location near the town line. The ice wall was visible from the main road heading out of town, illuminating the forest around it with an ethereal blue glow.

As they ran, Kristoff could feel the air temperature dropping the closer they came to it. "Wow. Talk about a bad first day home. I've seen her do some pretty powerful things when she's upset, but this is…"

"Extreme?"

"In a sad kind of way. You sure we can break in there?"

Anna slowed her pace to a walk, and then she completely stopped, staring down the street and white-knuckling her scabbard. "No. I'm actually really scared that I'm going to screw this up too," she admitted, unable to hide the fear from her eyes when she looked to Kristoff. She glanced down at the sword in her hands, remembering the instructions Elsa gave her when she gifted her with the masterwork weapon. "But I've gotta try something! She told me to use it to protect myself, but that doesn't mean I can't use it to help her."

Kristoff shrugged the bag of tools over his shoulder. "She made it to break through her magic. It already worked on Ingrid's, so there's no reason it won't work now."

With a confident nod, they resumed their run to the end of the road, seeing Olaf's eyes light up when they approached while David thwarted Killian's attempt to hack down the wall again with his hook.

"You guys made it!" Olaf cheered, beckoning Anna to follow him through the ice debris to the spot where Killian managed a few scores in the wall. "I told Elsa that you were coming to help her, and David asked her to find the thinnest part of the ice for you!"

A small smile tugged at Anna's lips when she saw her sister's snowflake glowing within the wall. "Oh yeah, this is perfect!" She turned around and looked between the men by her side, focusing her stare on David. "Keep everyone back and let Elsa know that we're here," she said, noticing the radio in his hand. "Kristoff and I are going to try to cut through it."

He gave her an incredulous look when she pulled her sword from its sheath, but continued to give his trust when he remembered her heroics against the Wicked Witch. Drawing Killian away by the sleeve of his captain's jacket, he gave Anna the space she needed and followed her orders to contact Elsa.

She gave the scabbard to Olaf to hold, keeping him occupied so he wouldn't feel obligated to try helping further. The blade hummed in her hands as she held it close to the ice, the enchantment sensing the element it was forged to pierce. With a hopeful glance at Kristoff, Anna raised the sword, took aim, and stabbed the wall at the northern point of the snowflake. Just as before, the blade slid through the ice as though it was hardly there, stopping only when the hilt met the sheer face of the wall. She dragged the blade on a curve to connect with the next point of the snowflake, using it as a guideline to make a tunnel for Emma and Elsa to crawl through.

When the circle was completed, Anna retrieved her sword from the wall and stepped back to make room for Kristoff. Armed with an ice axe, he hacked several inches deep into the wall on both sides of the circle, opting to trade the brutish tool for a hefty pair of tongs once he decided he had enough space to work with. He gripped the cylinder with the tool and gave a sharp tug, dismayed when the ice wouldn't budge. After trying once more, Kristoff put down the tongs and knelt close to the wall, inspecting the clear cut Anna made in it.

"It didn't go all the way through," he told her, leaning back and looking up at the monstrous sheet of ice. "We're only about halfway to the other side."

Anna shook her head, confused by what he meant when she looked at the snowflake in the ice. "But… Elsa marked it for us. This is the _thinnest_ part of the wall!"

Kristoff shrugged. "That just means it's a really _thick_ wall."

The bad news didn't sit well with Killian, and he pushed past David to confront the couple on the matter. "The fact remains that we have loved ones on the other side of this thing, and if we don't get them out quick, that cave will be their tomb," he harshly reminded. "I'm not one to stand by when the circumstance turns grim. What needs to be done?"

Handing Killian the axe, Kristoff instructed him to start chipping away the ice around one side of the circle while he worked on the other with a chisel and hammer; doing so would allow Anna space to cut deeper with the sword. Anna, meanwhile, turned her back to the wall, watching Olaf hug the scabbard close to his chest while listening to Elsa's panicked voice come over David's radio.

"…She can't move… lips are turning blue. We were trying to find a way out, but…"

Anna frowned. It sounded like her sister was giving up.

 _No. She can't. Not yet._

Not after everything they'd gone through to get this far.

She approached David, holding her free hand out towards him and silently beckoning for the radio. "Please. I need to talk to her."

Radio in hand, she turned to face the wall once more, catching Olaf's hopeful smile from the corner of her eye. "Elsa? It's me, Anna."

* * *

The sound of her voice made Elsa freeze in place.

She said nothing and stared at the black device in her hand, trying to steady her breaths as Emma looked up at her from the ground. They both waited in the silence for Anna's next words, Elsa fearing them more than Emma was hoping for news of their rescue.

There was a burst of static before Anna's voice returned. "Elsa, I know I'm the last person you want to hear from right now, but you have to listen to me. You have to use your magic to break thr—"

Immediately, Elsa held up the radio to her mouth, just as panicked as she was moments ago. "I can't! I've already tried everything I know."

"Yes you can! I _know_ you can! You've done it before so many times and… yeah, things are different now," Anna started, her tone quieting a bit as she and Elsa both thought of why it was her magic wouldn't thaw. "I know you're hurt and nothing I say will make you feel better or fix everything that happened, but… I don't want you to give up again."

Elsa's finger reached for the button, about to respond when the words failed to find her. She lowered the radio to her lap, listening for when Anna spoke next as Emma shivered beneath her hand, reminding her of her failure.

"I can't imagine what it was like in that urn," Anna breathed, reeling from the idea alone, "and I bet it was scary coming out of it and finding yourself here and not at home. You don't like Storybrooke and I don't blame you… because seriously, that was an awful "Welcome Back" party," she joked, unknowingly bringing a slight smirk to Elsa's lips. "I know things are easier for you when you're alone, but Elsa… I really don't want you to live the rest of your life up on a mountain or in an ice cave."

"I want you to paint again," she continued. "I want you to make ice sculptures and go skating and have snowball fights and eat cheap, crappy frozen pizzas again because we can't afford anything else. I want you to _live_ , and you shouldn't let that stupid prophecy stop you from doing that. Think of all the things you'll miss out on if you don't get out of there."

Elsa didn't have to think long or hard at all, for she already knew what she yearned for during her most recent isolation. Small creature comforts she didn't care about as much; she grew up rich and lived through a curse in poverty, never wanting much in either world but for a bed to lie in and a roof over her head. Of all the things that could be offered to her, Elsa missed feeling warm. She missed the sun glowing on her skin, the heat from a fire in the hearth at night or at a campsite on her way up the mountains. She missed her favorite teas which would soothe her throat after a long day of talking, and the mugs of hot chocolate that needed no special occasion to toast with.

Elsa closed her eyes, flinching when she felt Emma's hand upon her forearm. Above all, she missed her family. Their warm hugs, smiles, laughter and hope… their support and their _love_ … what she wouldn't give to turn back time and have that again before it was ruined.

What she wouldn't give to call Kristoff her brother, to watch Olaf and Marshmallow grow from boys to aspiring young men, and to look at Anna and not feel like the monster she believed she was.

"You can keep fighting your battles and live your life, but only if you get out of that cave," Anna told her. "You know what you have to do. _Feel_ it. Don't hold it back anymore."

 _Let it go._

With a delicate touch, Elsa removed Emma's hand from her arm and rose to her feet, setting her stare upon the wall. Her eyes narrowed as she focused on the snowflake she sprouted within it, fearing what lie beyond but determined now to take charge of her destiny and the course it would lead. She took a deep breath and raised her arms, pointing her palms at the ice which barred her path.

There was a shift in the air; what once felt so bitingly cold now pulsed with a new energy, a power that drew towards and radiated from Elsa. The sensation was so peculiar, yet strong enough to rouse Emma from a near fateful sleep. She mustered what little strength she had to sit up on her knees, getting there in time to witness Elsa's display of mastery.

It showed itself different than usual, coming forth as a spiraling blast of magic as blue as the wall itself. The magic struck the ice and bore through it, thawing towards the snowflake bit by bit like a drill. The act itself looked simple and the current results were encouraging, but one look at Elsa and Emma could tell she was struggling. She almost looked like she was in pain.

Sharp spasms ran through her heart, striking her from within as her magic refused to obey her command. The blue glow surrounding her hands flickered, weakening the power she projected upon the wall, and with a distressed cry she brought them both back in force, refusing to give in to her weakness. Frost laced her fingers as the tension between her mind and body grew, threatening to tear her apart over what used to be a simple magic spell.

The wall still stood before her, an imposing avatar of her immense power and the control it had over her. But what she was managing now, just this small hole she was helping to thaw, was a testament to her defiance over its reign.

 _I won't let it win._

* * *

 _We can do this!_

The thought rang through Anna's mind as she thrust the sword into the wall, able to cut deeper now thanks to Kristoff and Killian's quick work. She dragged the blade along the same line as before, knowing that despite the effort, they were only a little closer to breaking through the other side. There was a lot that they were going to have to dig out, and as solid as the ice was, it was going to take some time.

 _I don't care if she hates me, I just…_

She stopped before she could complete the circle, confused when she felt a sudden draft blowing against her leg. Bitterly cold, it was coming from the wall, and she'd excuse it as just the cold emanating off the ice if it wasn't such a persistent wind. She looked down, finding her kneecap smattered with identical blue snowflakes.

"Kr… Kristoff! Kristoff!" Anna pulled the sword from the wall and stepped back, watching as bursts of snowflakes came through the circular cut in the wall. "She's trying to get through!"

Having hoped and anticipated that this would happen, Kristoff took the tongs from where he left them leaning against a boulder. "Okay. Stand back. Get back!" he shouted when Killian lingered for too long. Hefting the tongs with both hands, he pierced both sides of the cylinder where they had chipped away the ice. He planted his feet and pulled, encouraged when the piece began to slide out of place. "I got it! Stay clear!"

Inside the cave, Elsa collapsed to her knees, exhausted and relieved when she saw the ice give and slip away, leaving a hole big enough to escape through.

"Emma!" someone called from outside the wall. Elsa couldn't recognize the voice, but the rugged face of a dark-haired man looked vaguely familiar to her. Unsteady, she got to her feet and returned to Emma's side, helping her to stand and supporting her as they tried to leave the cave.

Elsa cringed, struggling to balance her own fragile frame with Emma's weakened state. "Come on… you're almost out of here," she said, bearing through Emma's pained shivers as she helped her to the hole in the wall. She guided her through, making sure the man on the other side was ready to aid her the rest of the way, and it was only when Emma was on the other side that Elsa allowed herself to relax.

The moonlight filtered into the cave from the hole, illuminating a small bit of the gloomy blue ice that would be Elsa's new abode, should she choose it to be. She'd be safe here, and Storybrooke would be safer yet if she sealed herself inside. Plus, if she could weather the pain once more, she could escape through the other wall to the town line and leave this place for good.

She'd committed to part of that plan for most of the day, and yet now as she moved to ice over the hole she helped to make, she hesitated. Her heart was torn: one half broken and scarred as the other held onto a shred of hope that maybe, just _maybe_ she could make things work here. Doing so meant facing everything she feared in Arendelle and more, becoming a tool of the prophecy she was destined to fulfill.

"Elsa, come on!"

…But it also gave her the chance to _live,_ and she'd been practically dead for at least a year now.

Elsa closed her eyes, took a deep breath…

 _I hope I don't regret this._

…and ducked into the ice tunnel, crawling through to the other side where her family was waiting for her.

She couldn't meet their eyes when she stood to face them, ashamed of herself and unwilling to start another confrontation with her sister so soon. They were all quiet, timid and unsure as David and Killian carried Emma away from the wall and to the awaiting squad car.

Olaf took a step towards Elsa, still hugging the scabbard tight, and his eyes lit up with a smile when she looked at him. "We're really glad you're back," he said, keeping his distance to avoid upsetting her. "It hasn't been the same without you."

She glanced up, searching their faces with tired eyes. Kristoff nodded to agree with Olaf. Anna as well, but her meager smile was filled with sadness and regret. For as long as Elsa was gone from Arendelle and Storybrooke, her family had carried on without her just fine, and while it made her proud of them, it also served to break her heart even more to know she wasn't needed despite Olaf's kind words.

The sight of their plain, common clothes and the sword in Anna's hand tarnished the vision of Elsa's perfect happy ending she dreamed about in Arendelle. She was so close to solving everything that was wrong there, and now… she was back to square one in a different world with more problems.

Gathering herself, Elsa took a deep breath and looked at her sister, temporarily losing the disdain she held for her. "Thank you for keeping our family together while I was gone," she said, speaking in their native dialect. Her voice shook beyond the rasp in her throat, betraying her effort to stay collected. "I hope you'll continue to do so."

Anna raised a brow, her lips twisted in confusion. "What do you mean? You're back now. You can—"

"I'm not going home."

She expected the disappointed looks they gave her, but not the shock that came with it. To her, the choice and her reasons for it were obvious, and she was thankfully spared from having to explain herself when David returned to the group. She turned to him, nervous about the repercussions of the mayhem she caused that day. "David, I'm so sorry about everything that happened. Is Emma…?"

He put a hand in his pocket and smiled. "She'll be fine. We have the heat going in the car," he said, pointing back at it with his thumb. "After some rest she'll be good as new." Her concern for Emma during the ordeal with the wall re-earned her David's respect, but from the way she spoke to him through the radio and looking at her now… he could tell something was wrong. "How are you holding up?"

"I'm fine," she said, earning a long stare from Anna. Even David couldn't be convinced by the lie.

"You don't look fine to me."

Elsa shrugged and looked away. "I'm just tired."

"Understandable. Are you going home with Anna or Kristoff tonight?"

She refused to answer him, and he looked past her to see Anna toss her head back and close her eyes. She was frustrated as much as she was upset, and it was clear that Elsa felt the same way considering she couldn't even muster up the strength to lie to him. "You're not hiding out in your old apartment again," he told her, feeling like he was chastising his own daughter when he caught Elsa's fearful, guilty stare. "Yeah, we know about that. I'm not going to have you camp out in the woods or sleep in the ice cave either. If you won't go home with your family, you've got two options: You can come back to the loft with us, or we can get you a room at Granny's Bed and Breakfast."

If she dared to ask what would happen if she chose to do neither, she guessed that her third option was to spend the night in jail. As she weighed the choices in her mind, at the very least she wanted to make sure that Emma was properly taken care of after her prolonged exposure to the cold. Without another word, Elsa made her retreat to the squad car.

Anna, however, was unwilling to let her go so quietly.

"Elsa!"

She stopped walking and turned her head, listening but unwilling to face her.

"I'm not going to give up on everything we were working for in Arendelle," Anna said. "And I'm not going to give up on you. I _will_ fix this."

Those words made Elsa's entire body tense up in anger. Her hands clenched into frosted fists, and any other show of emotion she held back with a square jaw. "Anna, just… stop making promises you can't keep. Please."

If there was a way to respond to that, Anna still would have kept silent. She understood why Elsa felt the way she did, and so she let her go without further protest, watching her walk away with the hope that the rift between them could still be mended.

She felt Olaf give her hand a tight squeeze as David turned to address them. "Is Elsa in trouble?" the boy asked, eyes wide in fear that he'd see his creator imprisoned again. David eased his worries with a warm smile and a light laugh.

"Don't worry, buddy. She's not in trouble. She just needs some time to get used to Storybrooke again and figure some things out for herself." He then turned to Kristoff and Anna, fixing them both with a serious stare. "And she'll need protection. The rumors in the Enchanted Forest were bad enough, but with the way she came back to town…"

"It was an accident," Anna sharply reminded.

"And people still saw it," David countered. "You know how they were the last time she had a slip-up. Every little thing that goes wrong from here on out will be pinned on her until she takes down the wall, and I don't want something happening to her because of it. _None_ of us do," he said, looking around to the family. He sighed and reached out, clasping Anna's shoulder. "Give her time. She'll come talk to you when she's ready."

Anna nodded, still unhappy about Elsa not coming home, but she knew her sister couldn't be in more capable hands if not with her own family. As David turned to leave, Kristoff had a sudden thought and called him back, glancing at the car to make sure Elsa was inside before he spoke. "She'll want to know what happened while she was gone," he started, thinking back to the last six chaotic weeks in Storybrooke. "Don't tell her that a few of us were turned into flying monkeys."

David furrowed his brow and raised his head. "Is there something I should know?"

Kristoff and Anna shared a look before Anna told him the grim news. "When Zelena attacked Arendelle, Elsa kind of, uhm…" she quickly drew a line across her neck with her finger before Olaf could see. "Two of them."

David agreed to keep that secret for as long as he could.

When it came time to part after the long evening, Anna watched the squad car pull away with a heavy heart. She took her scabbard back from Olaf and finally sheathed her sword, turning around to look at the wall one last time.

Kristoff sensed her unease. "Anna? You alright?"

"Not really, no." She stepped back, glancing at the cylinder of ice that had been pulled out for Elsa and Emma to escape; the part Anna had cut was smooth, but the side Elsa had thawed was jagged and uneven. "I hate seeing her this way, and knowing that it's because of me—"

"It's not your fault."

"Well it's _mostly_ my fault," she huffed. She reached for her necklace, fingers resting on the sparkling gem in the center. The cold she felt there was soft, almost comforting in a way that reminded her of Elsa's true personality, and it calmed her. "I'm happy she's here," Anna said, seeing the same relief in Olaf and Kristoff. "I'm happy that she's safe, but it's not going to feel right until I know that she's really okay."

Olaf rocked back on his heels, watching Kristoff approach the wall to gather his harvesting tools. "If she doesn't want to talk to us, then how can we help her?"

"...We pick up where we left off in Arendelle." Anna faced him with a confident smile. "We'll find out what the prophecy's all about and keep trying to make the Wishing Star. With help from the people in town, we should be able to do at least one of those, right?" Her smile was dashed when another thought crossed her mind, bringing down the optimism a touch when she remembered the other danger that lurked within Storybrooke. "Also… we've got to keep Ingrid away from Elsa. It's only a matter of time before she shows up again."

As the little family gathered their things and continued to talk over their plan, a figure watched them from the shadows of the forest. She hid herself behind a tree, holding the trunk for balance, though she could not help or notice the white frost that painted the bark beneath her palms.

Her glare was piercing, but her eyes lacked the anger behind them. She was curious, and perhaps slightly goaded by the idea of being challenged.

"Silly Anna. Chasing legends and stories in this town will only get you so far," Ingrid sneered, reclining against the tree when her targets left the wall behind to return home. She reached into the pocket of her coat and pulled out an ornate compact mirror, the back and sides of it detailed with the rosemaling of her homeland. With a wave of her hand, the glass of the mirror shattered.

Ingrid gazed upon the broken pieces, admiring them as she inspected their sharp edges, looking for the perfect one. "Only _I_ can help Elsa," she said, plucking a shard from the mirror. The light of the moon glinted off the glass when she held it up, and the piece glowed with pure energy when she imbued it with her magic. "And she'll realize you were nothing but a fraud when she learns who her true family is."


	17. Brief Respite

The same thought recurred to Elsa from the moment she found herself back in Storybrooke to when she formed the ice wall, and even now as she followed David up the creaky steps to a faded green door.

 _How did I get here?_

Her head was a swarming mess of scattered thoughts, drowning out the ache of her heart as she moved around the loft in the dark, helping to gather blankets for Emma. She was hardly conscious of what she was doing, so preoccupied by fears and worries that minutes later she wondered, again, when and how she found herself sitting on a stool at the Charming's breakfast counter. What snapped her out of it was the hum of electricity and the lights suddenly glowing back to life.

Emma was now cocooned in layers of blankets, sitting in a chair and shivering out the cold in front of a portable heater. Killian was by her side of course, David was asking Elsa questions she barely heard, and she just noticed Henry was there too when the door to the apartment opened.

Mary-Margaret stood in the doorway, holding a baby carrier that nestled a newborn boy. Her mouth was agape as she assessed the scene, blinking as she stared at her husband. "I fixed the power," she said absently, pointing out the door with her thumb as she looked around. "What happened here?" she asked, completely lost until she noticed who was sitting at the far end of the room. "…Elsa?"

Elsa drew in a breath and held it, unsure what to do or say, wanting to apologize but lost on where to begin. Instead, she slumped in her seat as David began explaining the long night to his wife, and turned back to face the counter in an effort not to relive the entire experience. She just wanted to be gone from this place entirely, just put her head down and black out for a few days and hope by then she'd be ready to handle the repercussions of her return and the emotions that came with it.

 _I shouldn't be here. I just threatened the life of their daughter and now they're… why are they trying to help me?_

The answer escaped her as she disconnected from the world once more, nothing but a phantom in the apartment as Emma was swarmed with affection and Elsa was left to brood and contemplate her situation. When enough time passed and she came back to herself, she flinched when she felt something brush her shoulder. Alert now, she raised her hands in alarm, only to lower them when she realized someone had draped her with a blanket.

"You might be the Snow Queen, but you must be cold after spending a few hours in that ice cave," Mary-Margaret smiled, patting her on the arm. Elsa pulled on the edge of the blanket in an effort to shield herself from any further contact, and to maybe trap in what little body heat she could muster in her condition. She watched Mary-Margaret step around the counter and approach the stove where a pot was steaming, wondering how long she was out of it to not notice her working there before. "I hope leftover vegetable beef soup is okay?"

Elsa stared at her dumbly, not reacting to the question when it was asked, nor when a filled bowl was placed in front of her on the counter. She was about to respond with a question of her own when a spoon was thrust in her face.

She looked up, finding Mary-Margaret staring at her with stern eyes paired with a saddened frown. "Anna came to us when we were still in the Enchanted Forest. She told us about what happened in Arendelle," she explained, pressing the spoon into Elsa's hand. "You haven't had anything to eat for a _long_ time, so please help yourself."

She left Elsa alone to prepare a bowl for Emma, unknowing the conflict that was holding her new houseguest captive.

"…Why are you doing this?"

Mary-Margaret turned around, finding Elsa with a sick look on her face. She didn't seem like she was about to cry, but she was clearly upset. "Why are you being so kind to me? If Anna told you everything, then you know what I did," she tried to reason. "I almost hurt a lot of people today. I almost hurt _Emma_ —"

"But you didn't."

Elsa bit back her words, not understanding how it was that Mary-Margaret was so calm having her in her home. "Elsa, you made a mistake," she told her. "And while it was scary to hear about it in both worlds… I know who you are. I know the woman who turned down a dark bargain when the Evil Queen threatened Arendelle with war," Mary-Margaret smiled. "And I know that she's the same woman who wrote to me every month in the Enchanted Forest because she was concerned for me and my family, especially after the Wicked Witch attacked her kingdom. You aren't a bad person, Elsa. You're a friend of ours, and we're going to do what we can to help you. Starting with a meal," she added, pushing the bowl closer.

Her words didn't alleviate Elsa from her guilt, but they lifted the burden just enough for her to manage her first bite of food in years. She didn't quite notice how hot the soup actually was, her powers nullifying the nasty burn her tongue would have taken, but it still warmed her inside when she swallowed. The flavors exploded inside her mouth, overwhelming almost, and if anyone considered this home cooked meal to be subpar, she would have called them a liar in an instant. The whole bowl was gone in minutes, forcing her to shyly request another, and by then she was satisfied enough to where the chill in her fingers had gone away.

The evening finally began to wind down close to midnight, starting with Killian's departure back to his ship, and Henry helping Emma upstairs to bed. That left Elsa sitting on the loveseat talking with David and Mary-Margaret in an effort to catch up on recent events. Her inability to focus on what they were saying didn't get her far at all, and the attempt threatened to be cut short by her mounting frustration with the entire scenario. All she managed to gather was that Zelena returned after Elsa and her family briefly thwarted her plans in Arendelle, and months later she forced Snow White's hand to enlist Regina's aid, casting another Dark Curse that would bring them back to Storybrooke.

"I enacted the curse to protect our unborn son from Zelena," Mary-Margaret said, nodding to her child resting in his crib. "She got what she wanted in the end, but thanks to Anna and Regina, she was stopped for good."

Elsa nodded, only understanding so much of the explanation of how Storybrooke was revived. "You didn't tell me in your letter that you were pregnant," she smiled, happy for her fellow royal.

Mary-Margaret, taken aback by the comment, shared a long look with David. "Elsa… I wrote that letter almost a year ago," she softly explained. "I wasn't pregnant yet."

"Oh. I-I'm sorry, I didn't…" Disheartened and embarrassed by her lost sense of time, Elsa pressed her lips together and looked down at her folded hands in her lap. She closed her eyes, trying to collect her thoughts, and jumped when a hand touched her shoulder. Panicked, she shrugged away from it and leaned as far back into the loveseat as she could, staring wide-eyed at Mary-Margaret.

The poor woman was dumbstruck by Elsa's reaction. She backed away slowly, sitting back down in her chair to show Elsa that she didn't mean any harm by what she did. "It's okay. You're okay," she repeated, feeling bad when Elsa had to take a breath to calm herself. "A lot happened today and you look exhausted. Maybe we can pick this up tomorrow?"

Elsa truly wanted to continue, to learn about any rumors that had spread about her capture within the urn, or what befell her kingdom in her absence. She wanted to know where she arrived when Zelena dropped her through the time portal, and how exactly she ended up back in Storybrooke where she was supposed to be.

It then occurred to Elsa that these topics might have already been covered with her, and she simply failed to retain the information, just as she forgot how long she had been absent from the world. She desperately needed sleep, and hopefully by the morning she'd be rested and calm enough to search for her answers.

David stood up and pointed over his shoulder to the far side of the room. "If you don't mind sharing a bed, you can sleep with Mary-Margaret tonight," he said. "I'll pick up an air mattress for you tomorrow."

A protest immediately sprang to mind. After making sure Emma was okay from nearly freezing to death in the ice cave, Elsa was going to ask David to drive her to Granny's Bed and Breakfast and stay there for as long as she needed. But for as tired as she felt, David and Mary-Margaret looked completely worn. She felt bad for asking more of them after everything they had done for her that day.

With the blanket still over her shoulders, Elsa looked to her side and determined that her current location was comfortable enough to sleep through the night. "I appreciate the offer, but I'm okay right here," she said, smiling despite the brow David raised at her.

"You sure? That couch is as old as Storybrooke."

Elsa shrugged it off. "I slept on a mattress without a bed frame during the first curse, remember? Believe me, this is an upgrade."

She had to insist her stance several more times before David let her be, relenting to his fatigue when Mary-Margaret told him to stop pestering her so she could finally get some rest. As the married couple shut off the lights and retreated to their bed, Elsa did what she could to make herself comfortable on the small loveseat. She took off her shoes and swept her cape over her legs, using it like a sheet as she curled up on the cushions, shook out the blanket and brought it up to her chin. She rested her head on the provided pillow, staring out into the dark room for a moment before realizing she forgot one thing.

She reached up and took the crown from where it sat atop her head. Even in the darkness, the gold was brilliant, shining from a nightlight in the kitchen and making the diamond-shaped sapphire glitter. Her fingers traced the curves of the metal, able to recognize no flaw or mar on the royal tiara that was her birthright. It was perfect any way she looked at it.

It _disgusted_ her. How could something so beautiful be forged for a disaster like her?

" _You deserve this even if you think you don't. Don't throw it away, and don't throw anything else away because of what's happening. We're going to get through this."_

Elsa squinted as Anna's words came back to her. Did she lie to her that night in the study just to appease her? How many other half-truths and tall tales did Anna say to keep Elsa in line? To keep the unpredictable nature of her magic at bay?

With a huff, she tossed the crown on the coffee table and huddled beneath the blanket. After everything that happened, she really didn't want to know how deep her little sister's betrayal ran. She closed her eyes, struggling to quiet her mind, but it eventually cleared enough to start drifting into the peaceful rest she so badly needed.

At that exact moment, baby Neal started crying.

Elsa opened her eyes and stared across the room with a dull look, having forgotten about the child when he'd been so quiet all night long. As his ungodly, screeching wails filled the bottom level of the loft, Elsa turned over and faced the back of the loveseat in an attempt to dampen the noise. It made her wonder where she started her downfall from a noble, respected queen to a misfit crashing on a sofa at Snow White's house.

* * *

 _It began in early March after Arendelle's first winter thaw. There was no doubt snow would come again to the small kingdom, but for now all traces of it were gone, including the ice that made travel through the fjord impossible. With clear mountain paths and water channels, travel to and from the main village was once again accessible to all… meaning that Queen Elsa and Princess Anna suddenly became very busy._

 _They anticipated the workload, remembering how their father seemed just as stressed at the beginning of spring as he did with the end of autumn. Ambassadors and dignitaries from surrounding kingdoms flocked to Arendelle as soon as they were able, meeting with Elsa to discuss matters that were put on hold due to the season. Anna, as usual, focused on the immediate needs of the townsfolk, solving disputes and smaller problems to deter the villagers from seeking Elsa's aid during this busy time. Working in tandem, the two brought Arendelle out from its hibernation with a head start on all political and personal fronts._

 _The progress pleased Elsa, so much so that she became more visible around the kingdom once she caught up with her work. She'd go on outings with Anna to visit the marketplace or take a stroll through the streets, stopping to talk with anyone who wanted to share a few words with her or catch up with the families she hadn't seen since Christmas._

 _It made Anna happy to see her doing so well. Elsa was back to her usual self, participating in family fishing trips and hiking excursions, as well as making a return to painting with what little other leisure time she had. Even now, as she walked by Elsa's side in the garden, she could hear and feel the excitement in her voice as she talked about the latest developments amongst the realms._

" _It's such a relief," Elsa said, smiling as she walked the path arm-in-arm with Anna. "I assumed the worst when Snow White wouldn't respond to my letters, but now that I know she's with everyone else at Regina's castle, that makes me feel a little better."_

 _Anna scrunched up her nose. "Yeah, but Zelena got to them too. I mean, we don't have to worry about her now because we totally kicked her butt," she added with a prideful smirk, "but she was planning something big if she had to travel across worlds and continents just to get it started."_

" _Snow White said the same thing in her letter. According to her, Zelena has some sort of vendetta against Regina." Elsa shook her head, exiting the gardens and looking across the courtyard to the stables. "I'm just wondering where I fit into all of this."_

" _You're a super-powerful awesome Snow Queen," Anna shrugged. "She's the Wicked Witch of the West. Good always beats evil, so she feels threatened by you."_

 _Elsa looked lost. "I never did anything to her, though."_

" _So? You never did anything to Hans, either. That didn't stop him from trying to kill you."_

 _Both villains had targeted her without ever meeting her, and before Elsa could dote upon their reasons she became distracted by the stable doors opening across the way. Anna let go of her arm and ran ahead to greet Sven when he walked out. From Elsa's perspective, he looked younger when his antlers were growing back, and it was apparent that he felt it too since he jumped around Anna like a dog wanting to play._

" _Easy, Sven! Easy!" A hearty laugh came from the stables, and Elsa picked her head up to watch Kristoff walk out with Kjekk, leading the horse by his reigns. "You see Anna every day! What's got you so riled up?"_

 _Anna followed Sven's movements and finally got him to stop by hugging him around the neck. "It's probably because he hasn't seen Olaf yet today. Is that right?" she asked, petting Sven atop the head when he nodded. She turned when Kristoff approached, gave him a quick kiss and then took Kjekk's reigns. "The kids in the village wanted Olaf to help put together their spring pageant, and he didn't have the heart to tell them no."_

" _They still do that stupid thing?"_

" _Kristoff! It's not stupid! It's tradition!"_

 _He rubbed the back of his neck and looked towards the stables. "I just don't get how you guys could sit there and watch it year after year. That song is terrible."_

 _Anna giggled. "They're finally changing it because some of the lyrics are offensive to "you-know-who"," she said, pointing at Elsa. The queen hadn't been paying attention to the conversation, focused instead on the shadows of the stables and what she saw within. In the bright sun it was hard to be certain, but when a strong steed with a gray coat and patterned mane stepped out of the shelter, Elsa held her breath._

 _Anna and Kristoff stayed quiet and still as Magnus slowly approached Elsa. She had been too busy and afraid to ride him again after he all but kicked her out of his stall before winter came, and the only time they saw each other was in passing. Like all the other horses, he was taken out to run regularly by the stable keep or Anna, but it was never apparent if he missed his true rider or if he was frightened of her._

 _She felt nervous being in his presence again, knowing he was just as much capable of hurting her as she was of him. From their last encounter, she understood that he and the other horses could sense her unruly magic, that its chaos was an unnatural threat they needed to run from. She may have a better grip on it now, but did Magnus know that?_

 _More afraid to lose a friend than to find out, Elsa held up her hand and waited for Magnus to make the first move. The horse shied away at first, unsure of her actions, but then he recognized her pose and presence. He stepped forward and sniffed her palm, remembering her scent, and if he felt the energy she carried within, it was calm and contained. Feeling safe, Magnus tilted his head down and pressed the bridge of his nose into Elsa's hand._

 _A relief, to say the least, and the uncertainty melted away as horse and rider were reunited once again. "I think he missed you," Anna said, knowing so when Magnus closed his eyes as Elsa started petting his nose. "We should probably get going, huh?"_

" _It's a bit of a ride out," Kristoff agreed. He untied a backpack from Sven's harness and put it on, checking the other bags Sven was carrying to make sure he had enough supplies. "If we leave now, we should make it back to the village before it gets dark."_

" _Wow. I didn't know it took so long to get there."_

" _It's not far. The hard part is getting through the forest on the way there; it's pretty thick. That's why we're not taking the sled." Kristoff paused in his task, stuck on a thought which made him look back at Elsa. "Are you really sure you want to go get that thing?"_

 _Confused, she nodded. "I'm the one who suggested it."_

" _Yeah, but you freaked out a little the last time you had it."_

 _Elsa stopped petting Magnus, lost in thought as she gazed into his eyes. "…Being close to it unsettles me," she started, remembering that gut-wrenching, dreadful feeling she got from her previous encounters. "I want to know why. I'd rather have it back in our possession before someone else gets their hands on it; its sitting exposed now that the snow's melted."_

 _Anna crossed her arms and smirked. "So, to the North Valley, then?" she asked, watching Elsa climb up into Magnus' saddle._

 _It felt odd to be up there again, but the lessons she learned came back on instinct. Elsa nodded, emboldened by her position and the family she had by her side. "To the North Valley. Let's go get the urn back."_

* * *

The hopeful memory stirred her awake, and only when she struggled to open her eyes did she notice that her lashes were wet.

That time had been so peaceful. Everything was perfect. Her family was happy and safe, and they had so much to look forward to until…

 _Until I messed everything up._

Elsa wiped the tears from her cheeks and turned over, looking out to the rest of the loft and noticing that the bed and crib were both empty. Squinting, she sat up and drew her legs over the side of the loveseat. _Did they leave me here alone? Is that really such a good idea?_

Her nose caught the smell of something warm and sweet, followed by the sound of clattering plates and cookware ringing in her ears. Elsa leaned over and peered into the kitchen, surprised to find Emma at the stove with her back to her.

It was a relief to see her up and moving, spared from harm after nearly succumbing to the cold from hours of fighting against it. Standing up from the loveseat, Elsa walked towards the kitchen and pressed her fingers to her throat, anticipating her weak chords to fail her as they had the previous day. _"God morgen,"_ she quietly greeted, smiling to hear that her voice was regaining strength, and smiling wider when Emma turned to face her with a grin of her own.

"Oh! Hey Elsa. Didn't expect you to be up so soon. You hungry?"

It was as though nothing happened last night. She was as lively as she always was with no sign of damage, save for a pink scratch on her forehead that she received during the cave-in. Reclaiming her seat at the counter, Elsa was happy to see that for once, this accident hadn't done more than cause an inconvenience for anyone who wanted to leave Storybrooke.

Turning back to the stove, Emma flipped a pancake onto a plate already loaded with a small stack. She looked over her shoulder and raised a brow at her new houseguest. "Did you get enough sleep? You can lie back down if you want."

With a tired smirk, Elsa shook her head. "Do I really look that bad?"

"Psh, are you kidding me? I wish _I_ looked half as good after sleeping with my makeup on," Emma joked. "I just figured my baby brother kept you up all night with his screaming."

"…It was hard to relax after all that happened yesterday," Elsa said, refusing to put all the blame for her insomnia on little Neal. She welcomed the mug of steaming hot coffee Emma put next to her plate, adding a spoonful of sugar and a splash of cream before holding a finger to the hot ceramic. Her magic spiraled out across the mug, chilling down the coffee inside and turning it into a homemade frappé. Though her power was calm and under her control, the sound of it made Elsa hesitate, and the guilt she carried from the ice wall threatened to wash over her again. "Are you sure you're feeling okay? You're not numb anywhere, are you?"

A little dumbstruck from what Elsa had done to her drink, Emma shook her head. "No. No, I'm okay. My nose might be a little cold," she shrugged, missing the way Elsa started at her observation, "but I'm fine."

"You're sure?"

In a joking manner, Emma held up her hand in a three-fingered salute. "Scout's honor."

Regardless if she convinced Elsa or not, she refused to let her dote upon the previous day any longer. She made sure to stay engaged in conversation as they ate, telling her about living in Manhattan and answering any questions she had about the last few weeks in Storybrooke. By doing so, she hoped that Elsa would open up more about what happened in Arendelle and her current situation, but she got nothing more than a firm affirmation about the risk she was taking in helping her.

"Anna and I couldn't make any progress on the prophecy. Kristoff said his family had a lead on it, but I was trapped before I found out what it was. I made some stupid mistakes, Emma," Elsa said, averting her gaze to the empty mug she held between her hands. "People were hurt because of me. I endangered my kingdom by simply being present there, and now I'm putting Storybrooke at risk, too. The last thing I want is for this prophecy to pass with so many people around."

Emma crossed her arms, hearing the sincerity in Elsa's voice and seeing it in her eyes. "I get why you were so desperate to leave town when you could. It's scary, but… this isn't something that we can't figure out."

Elsa wasn't so convinced. "Emma, I've tried for _months._ "

"Well, we're not out of time yet, right? If you give up now, you'll have to fight the prophecy with nothing more than what you've already got. At least give yourself a better chance." Unfolding her arms, Emma placed her hands on the counter and stared at Elsa, unknowing what it was like to be in her position but unwilling to let her fail so fast without even trying. She knew that beyond the terrible things her power was capable of, Elsa's heart was always in the right place; she didn't deserve the fate her magic was driving her towards.

When Emma next spoke, her words were quiet but genuine. "I don't know much about being "the savior", but I do know that part of my job is to help people find their happy endings. That includes you too, no matter how much you think you don't deserve to find it."

Shaking her head, Elsa looked up and faced Emma with a sad smile. "It's going to be dangerous."

"So? I've fought witches and dragons before. This isn't much different."

If only she knew.

"Emma, I don't even know where to start."

Leaning back, Emma smiled with a plan already in mind. "Start small. We'll go visit the ice wall today and see if there's anything we can do to start melting it down," she said, confident that now they weren't in a dire situation, the task would be easier. "After that we'll go to your apartment to pick up some of your things; Anna's not moving back in until tomorrow, so we won't run into her there."

"…And?"

"That's it."

"You're joking." Elsa raised a brow, skeptical and in disbelief of the inaction Emma had planned for the day. She just finished explaining how dire the situation was going to be if the prophecy wasn't stopped, and Emma was telling her to go home and pack her clothes. "I-I'm sorry, I don't understand. Aside from the ice wall, how is this going to help anyone?"

"It's supposed to help _you._ "

Holding a frown, Elsa couldn't question her on it further when Emma's phone started buzzing on the countertop. The sheriff glanced at the lit display and cocked her head in amusement at the name. "It's the mayor."

"…That's Mary-Margaret now, right?"

"You got it. She's holding her first town meeting today," Emma said with a proud smile. "Why don't you go clean up while I take this? There's a new toothbrush in the bathroom for you. Toothpaste is in the cabinet."

With little else to do, Elsa excused herself, retreating to the bathroom and catching the start of the phone call before she locked the door behind her. She spotted her reflection in the mirror immediately, amazed that after a year or more in the urn's endless void, she didn't look like an absolute wreck. Nothing could hide the fatigue in her eyes, but a bit of ice tamed her wild bedhead and a few dabs of water fixed the runs in her eyeliner. With a few more touch ups, she almost looked good as new.

Now if only she could start feeling that way. Her mind wandered as she started brushing her teeth, unsure what role she would play in Storybrooke's future, and where and when the past would catch up to her. The rumors about her deeds in Arendelle were already circulating with her sudden return, and it wouldn't be long until the residents became so paranoid about her being there that they'd cry out for her incarceration.

 _I'd want the same if I were them. I bet they were happy I wasn't here when their memories came back._

She rinsed out her mouth at the bitter thought and grabbed the edge of her cape, about to turn and leave the bathroom when she saw the poor state of her icy mantle. It no longer brushed the ground where she walked, so short now that the inlaid snowflake was obliterated before it came to a single point. Envisioning how long it was before, all she could see was Anna standing on the end of it, pleading with her on the verge of tears not to cross the town line.

Her heart clenched in regret as the sound of her own, harsh words echoed back with the memory. Anna did everything she could yesterday to keep Elsa from doing the unthinkable, and if it wasn't for her help, Elsa and Emma would probably still be in that cave. She deserved thanks and praise for her heroic efforts, but her actions did nothing to change how Elsa felt about her. One night of genuine words and gestures did nothing to erase the year or more of hell Elsa spent in darkness, trying over and over again to understand how lies and secrets prevailed in her household when she abolished the practice after her own terrible mistakes in Storybrooke.

With a wave of her hand, Elsa renewed the train of her cape just as simply as she had torn it off. The rift between her and Anna, however, would not be mended so easily.

 _I'll stop this prophecy without her. The further she's away from me, the better. At least she'll be safe if something happens._

Satisfied with her course for now, Elsa stepped out of the bathroom, feeling refreshed and ready to start solving the problems she brought to Storybrooke. While she still didn't agree with Emma's plan to accomplish so little that day, she decided to go along with it for now in hopes that she'd reach a breakthrough on something.

That optimism lasted for a whole five seconds before Emma charged out of the kitchen while holstering her gun to her belt. Elsa stilled at the sight of it, forgetting to breathe until Emma stalked past her to grab her jacket off a chair. "Did… did something happen?"

Emma stopped walking, taken out of focus by Elsa's timid question. She turned, giving her a sympathetic look when she saw her wide-eyed stare. "Yeah, duty calls. I'm sorry, but I think we'll have to skip the ice wall today. This could take a while."

"I could wait here until you're done?" Elsa's suggestion came with the hope that she wouldn't get dragged into an investigation so soon when the one she caused ended just hours ago. "I don't think many people would be happy to see me right now."

"Elsa… I know how you feel, but I actually need you to come with me for this."

Silence fell between them, and in the few quiet moments Elsa had to interpret Emma's words and serious tone, she came to a dreadful conclusion. "I did something wrong again, didn't I?"

"I didn't say that."

But she _implied_ it, and she cursed herself now for failing to hide it from her voice. Elsa, for all the strides she made that morning in trying to return to her usually collected self, was now having the threads of her stitched up confidence pulled out one by one. "Don't be scared," Emma pleaded when she saw Elsa close her eyes and clasp her hands together. "I'll explain it to you on the way. Just stick close to me when we get there, okay?"

Elsa swallowed her fear and nodded, not comforted at all by Emma's reassuring smile.

"We'll figure this out, I promise."

It was a careless promise, but the gesture was nonetheless appreciated.

As Emma led the way out of the apartment, Elsa lagged behind, looking across the room to her discarded crown still on the coffee table. It wasn't too long ago that she shared Emma's optimistic spirit; for a brief stint, Elsa believed she was capable of overcoming any obstacle in her path so long as she remained confident and in control of the situation.

 _What a fool I was._

She stepped outside, cleared her cape from the room and slammed the door behind her, reflecting on the last day she dared to dream of slaying the prophecy that held her hostage.

* * *

"… _Ohhkay, Elsa?"_

" _Yeah?"_

"… _You are totally the_ coolest — _pun intended— big sister_ ever. _"_

 _Elsa grinned, blushing a little as she helped Anna up from the ice on the ground. They stepped back to watch as Kristoff took his turn on the towering spiral ice slide Elsa had made to get from the top of a cliff to the bottom of the valley they wanted to reach. By the time he reached the bottom he had a big smile on his face from the rush, though it turned into one of horror when he barreled into the pile of snow Elsa had put at the end of a runway that was meant to slow them down. He sat up sputtering and brushed the snow off from his clothes, able to laugh as Anna and Elsa rushed over to check on him._

 _Anna poked him in the ribs with her elbow when he got to his feet. "And_ you _wanted to rappel down the cliff!"_

" _I thought it'd be safer until Elsa put the railings up on the slide," he kindly argued, pointing up at the safety features. He put his hands on his hips, marveling at the ice glittering in the afternoon sun. "We'll have to get to the end of the hill to hike back up, though. I don't see how we could—"_

 _He stopped, cut off mid-sentence as Elsa wildly moved her hands to conjure her solution. In seconds, the smooth slope of the slide turned into a spiral staircase, safety railings still included from the previous version._

" _Uh, okay. Nevermind."_

" _I have a mountain of paperwork on my desk and it took most of the morning to get here. The faster we do this, the better," Elsa said with a smile as she walked past him. "Now, where are we headed? The cave isn't too far from here, is it?"_

" _It's just past this hill."_

 _Following Kristoff's lead, the small family tromped through the grass and dense brush of the forest, stopping once they reached the apex of the hill to make sure of their direction before going down the other side. After reaching the bottom, they headed towards the foot of a neighboring mountain where Elsa spotted an oddity through the foliage; large stones had been deliberately placed and piled together against the rock wall to hide something behind them. "The cave is through here?" she asked as they approached the stones. At Kristoff's nod, she rubbed her hands together, smirking when sparks of blue danced off her fingertips. "All right, stand back…"_

" _Whoa, whoa, wait a second with the magic!" Kristoff warned, stepping in the way between Elsa and the entrance, relaxing only when she put her hands down. "Too strong of a blast and you'll cause a cave-in. Just let me handle it, alright?"_

 _Elsa backed off, letting her hands fall as Kristoff went to the stones and began moving them out of the way. "How did you find this place?" she asked, looking around to the tall trees and cliffs that surrounded them. "It's so quiet here."_

" _Kristoff said he found it on a trip with the other ice harvesters when he was a kid," Anna answered for him. "Um… how'd the story go? There was a bad snowstorm on the way to one of the lakes, right?"_

 _Kristoff nodded as he untied a torch from the side of his backpack and took a knife from his belt. "Yeah, it just popped up out of nowhere. We tried to make shelter but the wind kept knocking it down, so we searched the valley for a cavern. That's when I found this place." He struck his knife against a flint to light the torch and waved the sisters over to follow him inside._

 _The bit of sunlight that pierced through the forest canopy was obliterated by the cave's darkness, making the torch an absolute necessity to navigate any further than a few steps in. Kristoff lit some smaller sconces and lanterns on the way, left there by other harvesters who knew about the shelter and would likely use it again during poor weather._

 _Anna and Elsa walked arm in arm as he ran ahead to light the path for them. "This place is kinda creepy," Anna noted as the flames from the sconces licked up the stone walls. From the way they were placed, along with the round chamber they were approaching, the cave felt more like a sacred place than a hideout. "Are you sure nobody was here before you found it?"_

" _I was just a kid, so I didn't really know better at the time," Kristoff laughed. His smile fell as he looked at Elsa; she seemed completely spooked, even without the ice to show for it. "But… yeah, there was someone else here before us. I don't want to scare you guys… but look at this."_

 _He lit two final torches at the back wall of the cave and stepped to the side, cringing when he heard both Anna and Elsa gasp. In the center of the wall, just in reach of the average person's height was a precisely cut alcove to house the bronze urn Elsa had asked Kristoff to hide._

 _She took a step back in shock, staying brave thanks to her sister by her side. "Y-You… you didn't make that, did you?"_

 _Kristoff shook his head. "No, it was always there. Believe me, when I took the urn here a few months ago, I was just as surprised as you are. It's the perfect size and everything." He reached up, carefully taking the urn from its resting place and handing it out towards Elsa._

 _She hesitated to take it, and Anna stepped forward when she saw the fearful look in her eyes. "I can hold onto it if you want?"_

" _No, it's… I can hold it." Pursing her lips, Elsa took a deep breath and took the urn into her shaky hands. The bronze face was blank, void of any distinguishing marks until slowly, bit by bit, the ancient runes revealed themselves to her icy touch. Unlike last time, Anna and Kristoff were there to witness the phenomena for themselves, seeing what so badly scared her at the church._

 _Anna blinked and reached for the urn, running her fingers over the runes. "What's that say?" she asked, curious as ever. She looked at Elsa for help, and then to Kristoff who merely shrugged._

" _Uh, how about "Dangerous Urn: Do Not Open"," he guessed, getting a bad feeling from looking at the runes. "If Zelena was ready to use it on Elsa, then it's got to be some kind of weapon, right? Let me take an axe to it so we don't have to worry about someone else getting their hands on it."_

" _But what if there's something dangerous inside?" Anna argued, looking between him and Elsa. "Like some evil spirit or, or… I don't know, bad magic or another curse? If we break it we might release it all over Arendelle!"_

 _The unknowns were too great to decide on what to do with it. Having been transfixed on the ancient runes, Elsa looked up to find Anna and Kristoff staring at her, expecting an answer to break the stalemate. "Elsa, you gotta trust me on this," Kristoff said, trying to push his side of the argument. "Whatever that thing does can't be good news. We should destroy it before—"_

" _No!"_

 _Her tone of voice was unexpected, even from herself, but she glared at Kristoff almost as though she were daring him to tell her to destroy it again. She breathed, trying to relax, but with the urn in her hands it was nearly impossible. "We don't know what it does," she said, calmer this time. "I agree with both of you that it could possess some kind of dark energy, but it could also be tied to my prophecy. These runes didn't appear until I touched it," she added, still as lost to their meaning as she was months ago. "I'd rather research it before we make any hasty decisions."_

" _No offense, Elsa, but you guys haven't made much progress in anything you've tried to research so far," Kristoff said, cringing at the death glares he earned from the royal sisters. "I mean, okay, Grand Pabbie said he might have a lead on the prophecy, but we still know next to nothing about the Wishing Star. How is this going to be any different?"_

 _On any other day, Elsa's level of pessimism was on par or greater than Kristoff's, but today she felt confident that their luck was turning around; her recent political achievements made her think that it was about time for a personal victory, too. "The Wishing Star and the prophecy are intangible._ This _is something that already exists," she said, pushing the urn forward. "We have resources in Arendelle and beyond that can help us with this."_

" _The royal historians could help us find out where it came from, and Grand Pabbie could maybe translate the runes," Anna suggested, smiling to see that Kristoff was open to the idea of asking. "And maybe Regina could research what the urn does. Since we defeated Zelena, she kind of owes us a favor, don't you think?"_

 _Her hopeful smile was passed onto her sister. "Until we're certain of what we're dealing with, we'll keep the urn in the castle vault and restrict anyone from taking it out aside from the three of us." Elsa nodded to Kristoff and Anna, confident that the extra security would prevent the urn from falling into the wrong hands until a decision could be made on what to do with it. "This is going to lead to a breakthrough on something. I_ know _it will."_

* * *

Elsa only had a few short minutes to process everything Emma told her before she was out of the car and climbing the steps to Storybrooke's Town Hall. She held her hands together, fighting off her nerves as she followed Emma inside, anticipating the scenario she'd find herself in before she even got there.

The sound of her heels clicking against the floor echoed up the high walls, drawing out the beat of her heart and causing it to race the closer she came to the inevitable confrontation. With her sights aimed down, Elsa stopped walking, taking a moment to clear her thoughts and steady her breathing.

Emma stopped on the stairs leading to the second floor and turned back. "Hey, you okay?"

"I _really_ don't want to go in there." Elsa looked up, feeling like a child with the way her anxiety was getting to her. As though the itch of magic crawling up her wrists wasn't enough, her reception back to Storybrooke kept her from wanting to interact with just about everyone who lived there. "I already know what's going to happen."

"That doesn't mean it _will_ happen. Have a little faith. I won't let anything get out of hand." She paused, hoping for some kind of affirmation from Elsa that she wouldn't run from this, but instead she got nothing. "Come on. There's someone there who really needs us and you're the only one here who knows how to help her."

With a deep breath, Elsa gathered her shreds of courage and followed Emma upstairs, dreading each step she took towards the mayor's office. Despite being informed of what she would find inside, she still had a moment of panic when Emma opened the door and motioned for her to go in first.

The second Elsa entered the office, she caught the attention of everyone in the room and stopped dead in their sights. Standing before the mayor's desk were Mary-Margaret and David, the former of whom was holding Neal, but both parents didn't look as welcoming to her presence now as they did the previous night. Off to the side of the room was a man she didn't recognize; brown hair with a trimmed beard and mustache, he gave off the air of an outdoorsman if his choice of wardrobe wasn't so obvious of the fact. A fire roared in the hearth behind him, and backed against the flame, Elsa caught a glimpse of hate in his eyes. His jaw quivered as he fought to stay his tongue in her presence, but he and Elsa both put their wariness to the side when Emma entered the room to back her up.

One moment later, someone who had been kneeling at the couch rose up to reveal herself. Her eyes flashed when she saw Elsa, and through instinct or reactive amusement, a dark ruby smile painted her lips.

"Well look who finally graced us with her presence. Welcome back to Storybrooke Ms. Vinter… or is it the "Snow Queen" now?"

Elsa swallowed hard and Emma stepped forward, sensing her nerves. "Regina—"

"Swan." She pursed her lips and raised a brow, daring the savior to say another word, and turned her attention back to Elsa when she didn't. "This is quite the spectacle you're making for your grand return to civilization. It's just before noon and you're already offing the townsfolk."

"Regina, give her a chance," Mary-Margaret said, imploring patience. "We don't know it was her—"

"Was the ice wall not convincing enough for you?" she asked, sarcasm lining her voice. "What about Robin's wife? Face the facts, Snow: She's become a _threat._ "

The outdoorsman, "Robin", stepped forward and placed a hand on Regina's shoulder. "Please, that's enough," he said, sharing a look with her before he turned to face Elsa. When their sights met again, his eyes were softer, no longer hateful but filled with worry. "My wife, Marian, was attacked by your snow monster yesterday," he explained, noting the dread that crossed Elsa's features, "and now she is freezing from the inside out. If there is anything you can do to spare her from this magic… I could only hope that my thanks would be enough."

Elsa hesitated, afraid to give a promising answer in fear it'd be broken before long. Instead she looked towards the hearth, spotting the top of someone's head resting upon a pillow on the couch before it. Glancing to all who surrounded her, Elsa swept aside her cape and carefully walked towards the sleeping stranger, avoiding sudden movements to keep Robin from thinking she was about to further harm his wife.

Her pulse leapt into her throat as she crossed the short distance, encouraged somewhat by Emma following behind her. She held her hands tightly together, anticipating what she would see, but nothing could prepare her for the shock that ran through her when she saw the state of Robin's beloved Marian. Elsa gasped and covered her mouth, retreating at the sight of her.

Marian was comatose, stuck in a deep sleep and breathing so shallow that Elsa would have thought she was dead if she didn't know better. Her black hair was streaked with white, and the unnatural color encroached upon the rest of her locks by the second. Her dark skin was an unhealthy shade of pale; her lips were turning blue, and upon closer inspection, small crystals of ice had frozen her lashes together.

Emma watched Elsa's reaction, noting the way her breathing increased and how she stared at Marian as though she was looking at a ghost. "This isn't something Marshmallow could do, is it?"

"N-No. He can't, but…"

The evidence was ever so prominent. Someone had to be held responsible for this, and all Elsa had to prove her innocence was a weak alibi for the past twenty-four hours in which only half could be proven true. There was only one other person in Storybrooke who could cast such magic, and given what Elsa knew about her, it took little for her to be provoked enough to attack.

A name paired with a frantic allegation rose to her throat, but a stirred memory kept her from saying the words out loud.

It flashed before her eyes, vivid and tangible, in a place so far away now though the emotions were still so close. She remembered the hushed whispers, the people at her side and those who surrounded her… the looks in their eyes and in _his._

" _Monster."_

It called her back to the present, the insult repeating again and again in her head as she watched Marian's fingers turn a familiar shade of icy blue. It crept up her skin, stopping before it reached her wrists but making her curse ever more apparent as her hands looked akin to solid ice. Snowflakes identical to one another sprouted upon her hands, and the design began to appear upon her clothes and in the frost crawling up her cheeks.

Bold, striking and elegant, the snowflake linked the cursed magic to its caster.

 _No… please. Not again…!_

And it was Elsa's.


End file.
